Rio de Janeiro, Jan 11 (IANS) As planned by Corinthians’ head coach Tite, striker Adriano was singled out in order to participate in extra physical conditioning exercises in the club’s training session.

The move comes in order to get the player into proper shape for the upcoming season. The winner of the 2011 Brazilian Championship, Corinthians are currently undergoing their pre-season training at the club’s practice facility in Joaquim Grava, XInhua reported.

Adriano spent most of the practice Tuesday with the reserve players, focusing on tactical plays. Then, he joined the new arrivals at the club in physical conditioning.

According to Tite, Adriano is not in good shape and will most definitely miss the opening matches of the Sao Paulo state championship, beginning Jan 21. After the team’s practice Tuesday, the coach declared that Adriano will be given special attention in order to drop three to five kilos.

The 29-year-old striker will have to perform extra exercises and will be given a heavier load of activities than his team mates. The goal is to get Adriano into better shape than when he first arrived at Corinthians nearly one year ago.

In 2011, Adriano tore his Achilles tendon during the middle of the season, causing the athlete to be immobile. Gaining weight, the striker never fully had the chance to get back into shape.