FORMER Brazil striker Adriano became an instant cult hero with a thunderbolt goal on his Inter Milan debut… with the striker now claiming the ball was travelling at 105mph.
That’s despite the official record standing at just 80mph.
Adriano became a star thanks to his immensely powerful left foot
A free-kick from the edge of the area in Inter Milan’s 2001 pre-season friendly against Real Madrid was rocketed home by the forward, then aged just 19.
And the 38-year-old has recalled just how hard he booted the ball into the top corner on his first Nerazzurri outing.
He told Inter’s website: “I arrived at the Bernabeu. I was wearing Inter’s shirt, Real were the opponents. It was like a dream.
“I didn’t need anything more. I went onto the pitch and didn’t think about anything, I played as if I were on that dusty field in Vila Cruzeiro.
“I worked, I played with skill, I did everything. I won a free-kick and the bench said I should take it.
“Do you remember the left foot that used to train on the street and at home, the one that drove my mother crazy? I introduced him to the world with that free-kick.
“They said it was going 105 miles per hour!”
I always used to break doors and things in the house, it drove my mother crazy.”
Adriano
The official Guinness World Record for ‘Fastest Football Kick’ stands at a measly 80mph from Francisco Javier Galan Marin, filmed for a Spanish TV series.
There are several claims to the throne from around the world, including an allegedly 137mph hit by Ronny Heberson for Sporting CP in 2007 – another close-range free-kick rifled into the top corner.
In English football, David Hirst’s spectacular half-volley for Sheffield Wednesday against Arsenal in 1996 is said to have reached 114mph but cannoned back off the crossbar.
Many fans of mid-2000s football remember Adriano for his sheer strength, leading to his iconic ’99’ shot power rating on the video game Pro Evolution Soccer 6.
And the former player, who retired in 2016 after battling alcoholism and weight problems brought on by the death of his father, added that his ferocious shot was with him from an early age.
He stated: “I trained and practiced it since I was a child.
“I always used to break doors and things in the house, it drove my mother crazy.
“So she decided to take me to Flamengo, to enroll in a soccer school. Although we had to pay for it, and my father knew we had no money and we couldn’t afford it.
John Terry and Adriano dive into Pro Evo Soccer 6
“However, my mother Rosilda did not deny me that dream: she told my father that our aunt could help us pay for it.
“That was a lie for the good of us all, and she started an extra job selling sweets on the street.”
Although his first spell with Serie A giants Inter Milan did not go to plan, Adriano returned a few years later and cemented his place among football’s most unique talents.
Brazilian football hero Adriano breaks down in tears as he is given painting of him and his dad
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
