Adriano Leite Ribeiro was born on February 17, 1982 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. An unbelievable goal scorer and excellent in dead ball situations, Adriano has is deadly free kicks, so deadly in fact that you probably would not look the same if you happen to get in front of one. Adriano has had his kicks clocked at about 80 miles per hour, which is just down right scary.

There has been speculation that Adriano will be the striker that to replace world famous striker Ronaldo in the long run for Brazil. Adriano has potential for being the next great goal scorer and leader on the Brazilian squad surrounded by talent like Ronaldinho, Kaka, Cafu and Robinho.

Adriano started to come into his own playing for the senior club Parma back in 2002 when he scored 24 goals in 37 appearances. His stay didn't last long with Parma as he obviously became more desirable to other clubs because of his goal scoring ability and powerful left foot, so he ended up with Internazionale the following year making 83 appearances and netting 34 goals thus far.

Starting his international football career in 2000, Adriano has burst on to the scene for Brazil in his 37 appearances, scoring an impressive 25 goals. In 2005 Adriano made his first mark on the Brazilian team at the FIFA Confederations Cup where the striker scored 5 goals. The two most notable goals for Adriano came against Argentina in a 4-1 victory. The first goal from Adriano had come from one of his patented left footed blasts 11 minutes into the match. The second was a header by Adriano which was assisted by Cicinho, the header was impressive, but what seemed to get even more attention was the ball movement and chemistry of the Brazilian team before the score which lasted a little more than a minute. As a result of Adriano's awesome performance in the tournament he was rewarded with the Player of the Tournament and the Golden Boot for his efforts.