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Corinthians Locks Adriano in Team Hotel to Control Diet, Wants to Work Striker Into Shape

Former Inter Milan and Brazil striker Adriano will be stuck in a hotel at least through the weekend. The Associated Press reports that Brazilian club Corinthians is locking him in the team's hotel in order to control his diet and get him into game shape.

Corinthians' physical trainer Fabio Mahseredjian wants Adriano to practice three times a day. He also said the big striker must eat only what club doctors tell him to because he has an issue with excessive eating.

Adriano, who tore his Achilles tendon in April, largely failed to make an impact with the reigning Brazilian champions. He now faces an uphill fitness battle if he wants to be included on Corinthians' Copa Libertadores (the premier South American club competition) roster.

The former star had a bright future after he was signed by Inter in 2001. He became a success in Italy's Serie A and on the Brazilian national team. But his career started to decline in the latter half of the 2000s.

After his father passed away in 2004, he resorted to drugs and alcohol to help ease his pain. In 2009, then Inter manager Jose Mourinho allowed the Brazilian to return home and play on loan for Flamengo, with the hope that Adriano would solve his problems after performing poorly for Inter.

His career was on the up again, and after scoring 19 goals in 30 games for Flamengo, Adriano decided to return to Europe. But his stint at Italian club AS Roma lasted only six months. He returned to Brazil in March to play for Corinthians.

Adriano made headlines in December, when he was rumored to have shot a woman after fooling around with a bodyguard's gun. However, the woman later admitted that she was the one who pulled the trigger.

Photo via Flickr/crystiancruz