Adriano Imperador celebrates his 42nd birthday this Saturday (17) with a successful career for clubs and the Brazilian National Team. Born in Rio de Janeiro, the center-forward began his journey at Flamengo, where he made an immediate impact. Revealed in 2000, he won the Campeonatos Cariocas in 2000 and 2001 and the Copa dos Campeões in 2001.
Standing out for the Rio team, Adriano caught the eye of Inter Milan (ITA) and was signed by the Nerazzurri in 2001. In his first year, he made a strong impression by scoring a stunning free-kick goal against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu, showcasing his powerful shot. However, he didn’t get many opportunities throughout the year and was loaned to Fiorentina (ITA) and later transferred to Parma (ITA).
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It was only from 2004 that Adriano became one of the main figures at Inter Milan. Alongside a team full of stars like Julio Cesar, Zanetti, Figo, and Verón, he became a four-time Italian Serie A champion and a two-time winner of the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana. As a top scorer and key player, he earned the nickname L’Imperatore from the fans, in reference to an ancient Roman emperor named Adriano, and is still revered by the supporters to this day.
In 2008, he returned to Brazil on loan to play for São Paulo before ending his spell at Inter Milan in April 2009. In May, Adriano was announced by Flamengo and led a historic charge for the club that resulted in winning the Serie A of the Brazilian Championship, breaking a 17-year title drought.
Adriano also had stints at Roma (ITA), Corinthians, Athletico-PR, and Miami United (USA) before retiring in 2016.
For the Brazilian National Team, he started with the youth teams, winning the FIFA U-17 World Cup and the South American U-20 Championship in 2001. He made his debut for the Senior National Team in 2000, at just 18 years old, against Colombia in a World Cup qualifying match for the 2002 World Cup. He won the Confederations Cup in 2005 and was called up for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
His major highlight with the national team came just before that, in 2004, with the Copa America title against Argentina. In the final, Adriano rescued the Brazilian National Team, which was losing 2-1 until the 48th minute of the second half, by unleashing a powerful shot to equalize the game and take it to penalties.
