Soccer Legend’s Marriage Crumbles After 24 Days

A former soccer star and his wife are reportedly splitting after 24 days of marriage. According to DailyMail and Extra, former Brazil soccer player Adriano (Ribeiro) and his wife Micaela Mesquita were at odds after Adriano “disappeared for two days to watch the World Cup” in the Rio de Janeiro area. He reportedly spent two days in Vila Cruzeiro where he want to watch the Brazil-Switzerland match before returning home. 

The couple allegedly canceled a pre-planned celebration with family and friends over the weekend after the split, and Mesquita, 25, has deleted all of her Instagram photos with Adriano. The two got married earlier last month, and the New York Post says they have broken up and gotten back together five different times. 

Adriano, 40, was on the Brazil national team from 2000-2010. During his time with Brazil, Adriano helped the team win the FIFA Federations Cup in 2005 and Copa América in 2004. On the club level, Adrian played for multiple clubs but spent the most time with Inter Milan. In 242 club appearances from 2000-2016, Adriano scored 108 goals. While at Inter Milan, Adriano helped the club win Serie A four times, Copa Italia two times and Supercopa Italiana three times.  

In a 2011 essay for The Players’ Tribune, Adriano opened up about the death of his father in 2004. “I don’t really want to talk about it, but I will tell you that after that day, my love for football was never the same,” Adriano wrote. “He loved the game, so I loved the game. It was that simple. It was my destiny. When I played football, I played for my family. When I scored, I scored for my family. So when my father died, football was never the same.”

“I was across the ocean in Italy, away from my family, and I just couldn’t cope with it. I got so depressed, man. I started drinking a lot. I didn’t really want to train. It had nothing to do with Inter. I just wanted to go home. To be honest with you, even though I scored a lot of goals in Serie A over those few years, and even though the fans really loved me, my joy was gone. It was my dad, you know? I couldn’t just flip a switch and feel like myself again.”