Adriano Leite Ribeiro

This article is about Adriano Leite Ribeiro. For other people named "Adriano", see Adriano.

Adriano Leite Ribeiro (born February 17, 1982 in Rio de Janeiro), known simply as Adriano, is a popular Brazilian footballer. Some of his clubs include Flamengo, Fiorentina, , and his current club, Internazionale of Milan. Adriano, weighs 91 kg and is 189 cm tall. He is a burly player known for his agility, strength, balance, and ball control.

Club

Adriano began his career in the youth squad of Flamengo, and played in the pro squad between 1999 to 2001.

Adriano entered the national youth teams as a teenager. He won the 1999 edition of the FIFA U-17 World Championship, and helped the Brazil team to the Quarter Finals of the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship; he was the top scorer for Brazil with 6 goals and won the silver boot award for the competition, with 5 goals, just behind the golden boot winner, Argentinian striker Javier Saviola.

Adriano came to international fame in his first appearance for Inter Milan, when he scored against Real Madrid in the 2001 Santiago Bernabeu Trophy with a powerful free kick. With Inter already boasting first-class strikers, they loaned him out to Fiorentina during 2002.ADRIANO AND ROBBIATI HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED TO FIORENTINA, inter.it, January 11, 2002 In the summer of 2002, a 2 year co-ownership deal with Parma of the player was agreed.TRANSFER MARKET, INTER AND PARMA HAVE REACHED AN AGREEMENT, inter.it, May 23, 2002 In Parma, he formed one of the most impressive striking duos of Serie's A last decade with Adrian Mutu. They scored more than 15 goals with assists from each other. Adriano's kicks are strong and accurate, though sometimes lacking technical execution.

He returned to the Nerazzurri in 2004 and signed 4 and a half year contract and has since been an asset to the team.ADRIANO RETURNS TO INTER, inter.it, January 21, 2004 He has scored a total of 15 goals in his 16 appearances during the 2004-05 season. While playing for the Brazilian national team, he won the in Peru. Adriano was the leading goal scorer of the tournament and was selected as the best player.INTER, ADRIANO TOGETHER UNTIL 2010, inter.it, September 26, 2005

When he scores a goal, he looks to the sky in memory of his recently deceased father. In Italy, he is known by the nickname of "L'Imperatore" ('The Emperor'), referring to the Roman emperor Hadrian (Adriano in Italian). He is also known as "The Train of Milan".

He had been linked with moves to Chelsea and Real Madrid, but this rumor was put to rest after Adriano signed a four-year contract extension in 2005 that will keep him with Inter until 2010. "It's flattering that so many prestigious clubs want him," Giacinto Facchetti, Inter Milan's club president, told journalists, "but we're keeping tight hold of him." However, after a somewhat disappointing 2005/2006 season with only 13 league goals and some poor performances, he has again been linked with a move away to Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter's city rivals, AC Milan.

From 11 July 2004 through 25 June 2005, Adriano has scored an impressive total of 40 goals. They have come from an assortment of matches (28) including appearances in: Serie A, Coppa Italia & Champions League games for Inter in 2004/05; Copa America, South American World Cup qualifying, and Confederations Cup games for Brazil.

Country

Adriano, with 36 caps and 25 goals to his credit, is often considered as the long-term successor to Ronaldo in the Brazillian national team. During the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, Adriano was named Player of the Tournament and received the Golden Boot Award as the competition's leading scorer with five goals. In the final, he steered Brazil to an unforgettable victory. Two outstanding goals helped Brazil to beat Argentina 4-1, the first one coming from a blistering left-footed shot in the 11th minute. The second came as a result of a Cicinho cross, with Adriano heading it in. This goal was also impressive because Brazil's players passed the ball among themselves for more than one minute, with most of the players participating in the build-up to the goal.

Adriano was called up to the Brazilian national side ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He lined up alongside Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka in what was expected to be an impressive attacking foursome, touted in the press as the "Magic Quartet." Brazil were heavy favourites to lift the cup. He opened his World Cup account on June 18th 2006, scoring the first goal in a 2-0 win against Australia. He also scored the second goal in a 3-0 victory against Ghana. The goal against Ghana was Brazil's 200th goal in the World Cup. (Pele scored the 100th in the 1970 World Cup Final.)

Brazil met France in the World Cup quarterfinals, and managed only one shot on goal the entire match, whilst France, inspired by a resurgent Zinedine Zidane, managed to grab a goal in the 57th minute to put themselves through to the final. Adriano started the game on the bench, and only came as a substitute after France had scored.

Despite scoring twice (once against Ghana, once against Australia), Adriano's World Cup campaign was considered a disappointment, as he had just five shots all tournament, while Brazil as a whole were unable to find the right mix between defence and attack.Adriano - World Cup Review

Adriano became a father in June 2006, when his son, Adriano Junior, was born in Rio de Janeiro.ADRIANO JUNIOR BORN IN RIO inter.it 17 June 2006

References

External links

Official Inter profile
Adriano Online - Unofficial Adriano Website
FootballDatabase

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Adriano Leite Ribeiro

Club

Country

References

External links