Adriano Leite Ribeiro

Adriano
Adriano saopaulo.jpg
Personal information
Full name Adriano Leite Ribeiro
Date of birth February 17, 1982 (1982-02-17) (age 27)
Place of birth    Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Internazionale
Number 10
Youth clubs
1997–2000 Flamengo
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2000–2001
2001–
2002
2002–2004
2008		 Flamengo
Internazionale
→ Fiorentina (loan)
→ Parma (co-ownership)
→ São Paulo (loan)		 045 (14)
119 (47)
015 0(6)
037 (23)
000 0(0)   
National team2
2000– Brazil 047 (29)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 3 April, 2008.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of November 19, 2008.
* Appearances (Goals)
This is a Portuguese name; the first family name is Leite and the second is Ribeiro.

Adriano Leite Ribeiro (born February 17, 1982 in Rio de Janeiro), known simply as Adriano, is a Brazilian striker who plays for Italian Serie A club Internazionale.

Contents

Club career

Early career

Adriano started his career in 1999 on Flamengo's youth squad, and earned promotion to the senior squad one year later. Despite signing a two-year contract with Flamengo in June 2000, he secured a move to Internazionale for the 2001-02 season, and scored his first goal with the club against Real Madrid in a friendly match as a substitute.[2]

Parma

He was loaned out to league rival ACF Fiorentina for the 2001-02 season,[3] after which a two-year co-ownership deal with Parma F.C. was agreed, along with Matteo Ferrari.[4] He formed one of the most impressive striking duos of Serie A's last decade with Adrian Mutu, scoring 22 goals in 36 appearances.

Inter return

He returned to the San Siro in 2004 on a 4-year contract[5] and scored a total of 15 goals in his 16 appearances during the '04-05 season. From July 11, 2004 through June 25, 2005, Adriano was in peak form as he scored an impressive total of 40 goals in both domestic and international competitions. In September 2005, Inter rewarded him for his efforts with an improved contract running until June 30, 2010.[6]

Since signing the new deal, Adriano's future at Inter has suffered due to poor performances in the past three seasons, fueled by questions and speculation regarding his work ethic, which was called into question when he was twice caught partying at nightclubs during the '06-07 campaign. Brazilian coach Dunga did not call Adriano up for a friendly against Ecuador on October 10, 2006, and called for him to "change his behavior" and "focus on football". On February 18, 2007, Adriano skipped a team practice due to effects from a lengthy celebration of his birthday the night before, which led to Inter manager Roberto Mancini benching him for the team's Champions League match against Valencia CF and subsequent Serie A fixture against Calcio Catania.

São Paulo

On November 16, 2007, Inter owner Massimo Moratti sent Adriano on unpaid leave to his native Brazil for the second time in eighteen months, as he was set to attend São Paulo FC's training center, due to his poor physical condition and a past battle with alcoholism. Though his agent denied Adriano's desire to return to Brazilian club football, Adriano claimed he was willing to leave Inter in the January transfer window in search of regular playing time, with the Italian press stating interest from West Ham United and Manchester City F.C.[7] In December 2007, Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra expressed interest in bringing Adriano to the club during the January transfer window, commenting, "Adriano was a top player, but he lost form when his father died, and he put on weight." [8] Moratti, however, stated that Adriano would remain with Inter. "I would like him back here in January, as strong and as good as he was." [9] On December 10, Inter technical director Marco Branca said that Adriano was expected to rejoin the team at the start of the new year. "[The] news has been good. We intend to leave him in peace until the end of the programme and then he will be treated like the other players." [10]

Inter finalized a deal on December 19 to loan Adriano to São Paulo for the remainder of the 2007-08 season in order to allow him to compete in the '07-08 Copa Libertadores. São Paulo fans were soon seen standing in long lines to buy his new number 10 jersey at the team's official merchandise retailer after Adriano was introduced and his shirt was unveiled at a team press conference.[11] Adriano celebrated his competitive debut with São Paulo by scoring both goals in their 2-1 victory over Guaratinguetá on the opening day of the 2008 Paulista tournament.

Adriano was sent off after head butting Santos fullback Domingos on February 10, 2008, and was suspended for two matches after initially risking a suspension of eighteen months.[12] He was fined by São Paulo on February 29 after arriving thirty minutes late for training, then leaving early and exchanging words with a photographer. According to team sporting director Marco Aurelio Cunha, Adriano “left the training ground because he wanted to. The team does not miss him. If he is not happy at São Paulo he is free to go."[13]

On June 17, São Paulo sporting director Carlos Augusto de Barros e Silva announced that Adriano was returning to Inter ahead of schedule. "We have a balanced squad and it was better for Adriano to go back, given that we won’t be able to count on him for the rest of the campaign.”[14]

2008-09 season

On Tuesday September 14, 2008 Adriano came on as a Subsitute in the 81 st minute against Panathinaikos FC, and scoring a wonderful goal on a one-on-one against the goalkeeper Mario Galinović. He followed this performance with a start versus Torino F.C. were he set up both Maicon and Mancini in Inter's 3-1 win and was named Man Of The Match by Sky Sports Italia. In the next home fixture vs Serie A new boys Adriano set up Zlatan Ibrahimovics' beautiful backheel with a cross, then converting a penalty to help Inter win 2-1. With that goal Adriano has now scored 100 domestic goals in Serie A and Brasilian League A. On October 22nd 2008 Adriano scored the winner in a 1-0 win over Anorthosis, and with this goal, Adriano scored his 18th Champions league goal, and 70th for the club. [15] However, indifferent club performances led to uncertainty over his future, culminating on November 17th when Arrigo Sacchi suggested a transfer to regularly linked Premiership side Chelsea may well come to fruition in the 2009 January window. [16]

International career

Adriano, with 41 caps and 27 goals to his credit, was often considered as the long-term successor to Ronaldo in the Brazilian 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 victory, scoring two goals in a 4-1 victory over Argentina.[17]

He was called up for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, scoring his first goal on June 18 2006 in a 2-0 win against Australia and his second in a 3-0 victory against Ghana. Despite his two goals, Adriano's World Cup campaign was considered a disappointment, as he shot the ball only five times all tournament, while Brazil as a whole were unable to find the right mix between defence and attack.[18]

Adriano has featured only once for Brazil under Dunga's regime since the conclusion of the World Cup, as a halftime substitute during a 2-0 friendly loss to Portugal on February 6, 2007. On May 15, 2008, Adriano was called up for Brazil's upcoming friendly matches against Canada and Venezuela. [19]

Honours

Club
International
Individual

Career statistics

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Brazil League Copa do Brasil South America Total
2000 Flamengo Série A 19 7 - 8 1 321 101
2001 - 4 1 2 0 142 22
Italy League Coppa Italia Europe Total
2001-02 Internazionale Milano Serie A 8 1 1 0 5 0 14 1
2001-02 Fiorentina Serie A 15 6 - - 15 6
2002-03 Parma Serie A 28 15 1 0 2 2 31 17
2003-04 9 8 2 0 2 1 13 9
2003-04 Internazionale Milano Serie A 16 9 2 3 - 18 12
2004-05 30 16 3 2 9 10 42 28
2005-06 30 13 6 0 11 6 47 19
2006-07 23 5 4 1 3 0 30 6
2007-08 4 1 - - 4 1
Brazil League Copa do Brasil South America Total
2008 São Paulo Série A - - 10 6 283 173
Italy League Coppa Italia Europe Total
2008-09 Internazionale Milano Serie A 5 1 3 2 8 3
Total Brazil 19 7 4 1 20 7 744 294
Italy 171 75 20 6 37 19 228 100
Career Total 235 100 20 6 37 9 292 125


1Including 3 matches and 1 goal in São Paulo-Rio Tournament 2000 and 2 other friendly matches (1 goal)
2Including 7 matches and 1 goal in Rio de Janeiro State Championship 2001 and 1 match in São Paulo-Rio Tournament 2001
3Including 18 matches and 11 goals in São Paulo State Championship 2008
4See123

References

  1. ↑ F.C. Internazionale Milano
  2. ↑ "Adriano - Inter Milan and Brazil", footballdatabase.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-23. 
  3. ↑ "Adriano and Robbiati have been transferred to Fiorentina", inter.it (2002-01-11). Retrieved on 2007-08-22. 
  4. ↑ "Transfer market, Inter and Parma have reached an agreement", inter.it (2002-05-23). Retrieved on 2007-08-22. 
  5. ↑ "Adriano returns to Inter", inter.it (2004-01-21). Retrieved on 2007-08-22. 
  6. ↑ "Inter, Adriano together until 2010", inter.it (2005-09-26). Retrieved on 2007-08-22. 
  7. ↑ "Adriano sent to Brazil to save career", soccernet.espn.go.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 
  8. ↑ "Corner Kicks", Montreal Gazette (2007-12-09). Retrieved on 2007-12-10. 
  9. ↑ "Inter rule out Adriano exit", Sky Sports (2007-12-09). Retrieved on 2007-12-10. 
  10. ↑ "Branca gives Adri update", Football Italia (2007-12-10). Retrieved on 2007-12-10. 
  11. ↑ "São Paulo fans queue to buy Adriano shirt", Tribalfootball.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-24. 
  12. ↑ "Adriano gets two-match ban", Malaysian Star (2008-02-20). 
  13. ↑ "São Paulo: Adriano can go!", Football Italia (2008-02-29). 
  14. ↑ "L’Imperatore returns to Inter", Football Italia. Retrieved on 2008-06-18. 
  15. ↑ "Adriano goal statistics", inter.it (2007-11-17). Retrieved on 2008-11-17. 
  16. ↑ >"Arrigo Sacchi: Adriano to Chelsea", sportmediaset.it (2008-11-17). Retrieved on 2008-11-17. 
  17. ↑ "Germany 2005: Wonderful tournament whets appetite for the main event", FIFA. Retrieved on 2007-08-22. 
  18. ↑ "Adriano - His World Cup", Golaccio.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-22. 
  19. ↑ "Adriano joins Brazil for friendlies", FIFA.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-24. 

External links