Luiz Adriano

Luiz Adriano de Souza da Silva is a striker for Shakhtar Donetsk. He was born on 12 April, 1987 in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Luiz Adriano began his career at the youth system of Internacional in 2004. Two years later the young striker took part in the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup, and scored a winning goal against Egyptian Al-Ahly in the semifinals. Internacional became the champion of the tournament then, beating Barcelona 1-0 in the final match.

Luiz made mere 12 appearances and netted 3 goals for the Brazilian team, until being sold to Shakhtar Donetsk for €3 million in March 2007. Luiz Adriano has quickly become one of the key forwards in the first team of the Miners. In his debut 2007/08 season he took part in 19 matches and scored 5 goals, and helped Shakhtar to become the Ukrainian champion and the holder of the Ukrainian Cup.

In the 2008/09 season Adriano featured 29 times and scored 9 goals. One of the goals was scored against Werder Bremen in the finals of the UEFA Cup. However, the Brazilian striker’s full potential revealed only in three following seasons. Luiz Adriano’s successful performance helped Shakhtar to win the Ukrainian Premier League three times in a row, win Ukrainian Cup two times, and become one of the best players at the Ukrainian club.