Adriano’s left foot will go down as one of the most thunderous weapons in modern football and even though his career didn’t pan out as planned, his talent won’t be forgotten in a hurry.
His Inter teammate once described Adriano as “a mix between Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic” because of the way he married pace, skill, size and power into one dynamite striking package.
Despite the fact that the burly Brazilian never quite lived up to his full potential for club and country, he still turned out some stellar displays and goes down as one of our favourite ever Inter strikers.
Inter’s official Twitter account paid tribute to the big man last year and because they couldn’t pick their favourite of his goals (there were plenty), they posted a video of one of his shots cannoning off the crossbar. Take note of how the frame of the goal is shaking after contact.
🎂 | HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Happy birthday @A10imperador!
Choosing just one goal from all these would be impossible 👉 https://t.co/jp6sbufliN
So we chose this instead… 😉 pic.twitter.com/336yKLGQVU
— Inter (@Inter_en) February 17, 2020
Winner of four Serie A titles. Scorer of 137 goals in 300 club appearances in Italy and Brazil between 2001 and 2014. A Copa América champion with Brazil in 2004 and a man who found the net 27 times in 48 appearances for his country while wearing the iconic colours of the Seleção.
One left foot that we’ll never forget. Adriano “The Emperor” Leite Ribeiro turns 40 today. Happy birthday sir.