Adrian Ilie was born in Craiova on April 20, in 1974. During his career he played as a striker. At the international level, Ilie won 55 caps for Romania, scoring 13 goals. He played at the 1996 European Football Championship, 1998 FIFA World Cup and 2000 European Football Championship.

He has won 4 Romanian Championships and two Romanian Cups, all with Steaua Bucharest. He also won two Turkish Championships and the Spanish Championship.