Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar is still buzzing after his dramatic derby saves and reveals how he turned Adriano around with an intervention.
The Brazilian has seen his teammate at club and international level go from has-been to star striker after getting career and personal life back on track.
“Talking about Adriano is very easy for me, because we’ve known each other since we were kids. We used to play five-a-side football together,” Julio Cesar told Sky Italia.
Adriano went off the rails last year due to his hard partying ways and confessed to once turning up to training while drunk.
“He is a fantastic lad, quiet and a great friend with an immense heart. He lives alone now, without his mother or his grandmother, so I think the most important thing is to have real friends by his side, the kind he can trust.
“Not only me, but also [Douglas] Maicon, Maxwell and [Amantino] Mancini. Once we all went to his house for a long talk and he understood the message we wanted to give him.
“I am happy that he has finally been able to understand what we want from him and he is now in great shape.”
Adriano scored in the 2-1 derby win over Milan, albeit with his arm, and is slowly rising up the pecking order.
“Now the responsibility grows on his shoulders, because when you find the right path, more rests on you. But he has to continue like this, as he can give so much to this team.
“I am truly happy for him and can promise I’ll be there annoying him continually so that he carries on like this for a great end to the season!”
Julio Cesar was also decisive in the derby with a fantastic late save with an outstretched toe to deny Pippo Inzaghi an equaliser.
“I’d like to think that some of the Scudetto – if we win – will have passed through my hands, or in the case of the save on Inzaghi, through my feet!”
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