Adriano Brazilian Footballer Born 1982 in Rio de Janeiro

Early life

Adriano Leite Ribeiro was born on 17 February 1982 in Rio de Janeiro. He is a Brazilian forward. He joined the youth squad of Flamengo in 1999, and was promoted to the senior group a year later.

Club career

Adriano made his Flamengo debut on 2 February 2000 in a Torneio Rio-São Paulo match against Botafogo and scored in the same tournament four days afterwards. He signed a two-year contract in June 2000, but he moved to Inter Milan for the 2001-02 season in a deal that sent Vampeta to Paris Saint-Germain. After a period away from Inter, which included a loan to Fiorentina, he joined Parma on a co-ownership arrangement. Alongside Adrian Mutu he scored 22 goals in 36 appearances.

Inter brought him back in January 2004 on a contract running four and a half years. He scored 12 goals in the rest of that season, and in 2004-05 he reached 28, including two in the first leg of the Coppa Italia final, which gave Inter their first title in that competition in 23 years. In the Champions League round of 16 that season he scored a hat trick against Porto. A new contract in September 2005 extended his stay until June 2010, and in 2005-06 he scored 19 goals as Inter won the league and cup double. In Italy he was nicknamed L'Imperatore, the Emperor.

His output dropped in the following seasons. He managed six goals in 30 appearances in 2006-07, and in late 2007 Inter sent him to Brazil on leave before loaning him to Sao Paulo for the rest of the 2007-08 season so that he could play in the 2008 Copa Libertadores. Back at Inter, he scored regularly early in the 2008-09 Serie A campaign and reached 100 goals in the Italian and Brazilian top divisions combined. On 24 April 2009 he terminated his Inter contract.

Adriano rejoined Flamengo on 6 May 2009, scoring on his return against Atletico Paranaense on 31 May. He recorded his first hat trick for the club in a 4-0 win over Internacional and helped Flamengo to their first Brazilian league title since 1992.

On 8 June 2010 Roma announced him on a three-year contract, and he wore the number 8 shirt, but the deal was terminated in March 2011. He signed with Corinthians on 25 March 2011, made his debut that October and left in March 2012. A third spell at Flamengo lasted from August to November 2012. In February 2014 he signed with Atletico Paranaense and left in April after four matches. His last club was Miami United of the National Premier Soccer League, from January to May 2016, and he retired that year.

International career

Adriano made his Brazil debut on 15 November 2000 in a World Cup qualifier against Colombia. He scored his first international goal in a friendly against Nigeria on 11 June 2003. At the 2004 Copa America he scored seven goals to win the Golden Boot. In the final he scored an equaliser in the 93rd minute against Argentina and converted in the shootout, which Brazil won 4-2.

At the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup he was named player of the tournament and won the Golden Boot with five goals, including two in the 4-1 final win over Argentina. He was in the squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, scoring against Australia and Ghana, but Brazil lost to France in the quarter-finals. He returned to the national side in June 2008 but was left out of the final squad for the 2010 World Cup.

Recognition

Adriano finished sixth in the 2004 Ballon d'Or voting and seventh in 2005, and sixth and fifth in the FIFA World Player of the Year ranking in the same years. He received the IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer award for 2005 and the Pirata d'Oro as Inter's player of the year in 2004. In Brazil he won the Bola de Ouro and Bola de Prata in 2009 and led the league's scoring list that year.

His honours include three Serie A titles with Inter (2005-06, 2006-07 and 2008-09), two Coppa Italia wins, three Supercoppa Italiana wins, the Brazilian league with Flamengo in 2009 and with Corinthians in 2011, the Copa America in 2004 and the Confederations Cup in 2005.

Personal life

In November 2014 a court in Rio de Janeiro cleared Adriano of drug trafficking charges first raised in 2010, citing insufficient evidence. His son, also named Adriano, is a professional footballer.