Carlos Adriano Sousa Cruz

Early career

Adriano played for many Brazilian clubs including Ceará, America-RJ, Bahia, and Palmeiras. When playing for America-RJ, Adriano had 39 appearances, 17 goals, and a Campeonato Carioca Série B title. Adriano also gave a memorable moment to his role model Romário by being replaced with him in the 68th minute of a match against Artsul, the last match of Romário's playing career. Adriano scored 15 goals at 2010 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, leading Bahia to be promoted to the Série A. When playing for Palmeiras the next year, he had scored four goals in a 5–1 Copa do Brasil win over Comercial-PI, and became joint-top scorer with five goals at the end of the tournament.

Dalian Shide

On 8 June 2011, Adriano transferred to Chinese Super League side Dalian Shide on a four-year deal with a reported fee of $3.8 million. He made his Super League debut for Dalian on 14 June 2011 in a 2–0 home victory against Chengdu Blades, coming on as a substitute for Ahn Jung-hwan in the second half. His first goal in China came on 7 August 2011, which ensured Dalian Shide a 1–1 draw against Liaoning Whowin. He managed to score 4 goals in 12 appearances in the 2011 league season. On 26 June 2012, Adriano had five goals and three assists in a 8–0 Chinese FA Cup win over Yanbian Baekdu Tigers, getting involved in all eight goals of the match. He scored the most goals in a single Chinese FA Cup match, breaking the previous record of four goals, set by Wang Tao in 1998 and…

As of 1 March 2025

He is nicknamed Adriano Michael Jackson due to his moonwalking goal celebrations.

America-RJ

Campeonato Carioca Série B: 2009 Daejeon Citizen

K League 2: 2014 FC Seoul

K League 1: 2016 Korean FA Cup: 2015 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

K League 1: 2018 Individual

Copa do Brasil top goalscorer: 2011 K League 2 Most Valuable Player: 2014 K League 2 top goalscorer: 2014 K League 2 Best XI: 2014 K League 1 Best XI: 2015, 2016 AFC Champions League top goalscorer: 2016 Korean FA Cup top goalscorer: 2016