Italy still waiting for troubled Ronaldo and Adriano

 Mystery continues to surround the muscular injury suffered by Ronaldo shortly after he joined Milan from Real Madrid in the summer.

 The Phenomenon, who turns 31 on September 22, scored a goal and provided two assists in his first outing, a friendly against Lecco on July 29.

 Two days later, though, he reportedly felt a pain in his left thigh, which forced him to stop his summer training for two weeks.

 He thus missed the Serie A start on August 26 and, five days later, the Super Cup match that the European champions won 3-1 against Sevilla.

 Vice president Adriano Galliani played down the incident as he told La Gazzetta dello Sport Wednesday that "(Ronaldo) just feels a little pain and we keep him sidelined until we are 100 per cent sure he is fine."

   But he had to concede that "it is a medical problem and I don't have an answer to when he'll be back."

   Ronaldo's well-known fragility - he underwent two major knee operations in 1999 and 2000 while at Inter - is however worrying his fans who know how slowly he usually recovers even from minor injuries.

 Their hope is to see his season debut for the Champions League opener against Benfica on September 18.

 Muscular troubles aside, good news for the Phenomenon came in August regarding his weight, which he has often had problems to keep under control.

 Milan doctors diagnosed that his sudden weight gains stemmed from a malfunctioning thyroid, which they appear to have successfully treated with drugs.

 No injuries, meanwhile, are plaguing Ronaldo's compatriot Adriano, who was nicknamed the Emperor shortly after joining Inter from Flamengo in 2001.

 His last season with the Italian champions, though, saw his throne badly shaken as the powerful 25-year-old found himself battling psychological problems and, as he admitted this summer, alcoholism.

 Inter appeared close to releasing him on loan, as they did in 2001 and 2002 when he played with Fiorentina and Parma, but Adriano refused to leave Milan, promising to change his habits and work hard to regain the form that in the 2004/05 season allowed him to notch 28 goals.

 His fans were perplexed to learn about recent complaints from the neighbours of his villa on Lake Como, where he has been hosting loud night-long parties, but the club appears set on giving him one more chance.

 The club left his name out of the Champions League roster and expects a full comeback by January, when his form will tell if he can be available for the remainder of the Serie A or be sold.

 "We are optimistic that the boy has understood that he has to work hard and we believe he will do it," Inter manager Ernesto Paolillo was quoted Wednesday as saying.

 "If he recovers, we won't give away or loan a footballer of such value and will keep him tight. It depends on him. Everything is in his hands."

DPA