BRAZIL legend Adriano has tied the knot with an old flame after a whirlwind romance.
The retired striker revealed last month he planned to marry on-off girlfriend Micaela Mesquita by publishing a selfie of them in bed and writing alongside the snap: “Chilling with my pretty future wife.”
The pair had said they were going to wed in a civil ceremony on November 30 with a celebration party for family and close friends three days later.
But they surprised fans on Wednesday by bringing the date forward and sealing their new-found love by becoming man and wife.
The 40-year-old ex-Inter Milan frontman, who made headlines last year by dating a student half his age, posted photos on his social media showing Micaela signing the official papers before declaring with a smile as they held them up: “Married at last.”
The 25-year-old hairdresser he has wed, who has opened a new Instagram account describing herself as “married”, had been his girlfriend on at least four occasions in the past.
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In March last year, the last time he was linked to Micaela before they rekindled their on-off relationship, he was said to have been seeing her in secret at the same time he was enjoying trysts with model and medical student Victoria Moreira.
At the time, he was staying in the presidential suite of a luxury hotel in the upmarket neighbourhood of Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro while between homes after selling a former mansion.
Adriano and Micaela reportedly had a couple of violent bust-ups at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, with one row said to have led to the Brazilian beauty being turfed out onto the streets and having to seek help from staff to get a taxi home.
Adriano, whose career suffered because of twin battles with drink and depression, had a short-lived affair with medical student Ceu Oliveira at the start of last year.
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He was first linked to the 21-year-old days after it was reported he had allegedly cheered himself up after a failed transfer by spending £13,000 on 18 prostitutes.
Brazilian publication Extra said he consoled himself after a move to French outfit Le Havre fell through at the last minute in 2015 by flying back from France to Rio and taking the sex workers to a private party at a motel until the early hours of the morning.
In-between dating fitness fanatic Ceu and rekindling his relationship with Micaela, he enjoyed a brief fling with an 18-year-old called Bia Miranda.
Father-of-three Adriano, once touted as the heir to Ronaldo, was considered one of the best strikers in the world during his heyday.
He finished in the top 10 of the Ballon d’Or in 2004 and 2005 and had four prolific seasons in Italy with Parma and Inter Milan.
The retired footballer, known for his long-range left-footed strikes, made his Brazil debut at 18 and received the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer at the 2004 Copa America.
He has blamed his career decline on the August 2004 death of his father Almir Leite Ribeiro.
He wrote in The Players’ Tribune: “After that day, my love for football was never the same. 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.”
Adriano’s bizarre career took another twist in December 2011 when a woman was shot inside his car.
Initial reports said the wounded woman told police the now-retired footballer had accidentally fired his bodyguard’s gun while showing off.
Police subsequently said she had admitted shooting herself after “making a mistake and correcting her false account.”
In 2014, Adriano, who retired in May 2016, was investigated over alleged links to a Rio de Janeiro drug lord he was said to have purchased a motorbike for, but the case never went to trial.
After hanging up his boots, he admitted to turning up drunk at training during the height of his problems.
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He told a Brazilian magazine of his alcohol addiction brought on by depression following the death of his dad, saying: “I only felt happy drinking, every night. I would drink everything in front of me, wine, whisky, vodka and beer, lots of beer.
“I would turn up for training even though I was blind drunk. Then they’d take me to sleep in the medical room and tell the press I had muscular problems.”
