Bruce working to expedite Freddy's citizenship

[Lloyd Heilbrunn]

I am no expert on the citizenship timeline, but I think I have about as much a chance of expediting Freddy's status as Bruce does.>>>>>>

Well, I guess either of you could marry him.........:)

[jd6885]

Originally posted by Lloyd Heilbrunn
I am no expert on the citizenship timeline, but I think I have about as much a chance of expediting Freddy's status as Bruce does.>>>>>>

Well, I guess either of you could marry him.........:)

hehehe... Lloyd and his fantasies!

[superdave]

1. Yes, there's some question about his age. 1, he's big for his age. 2, he's from Ghana, where record keeping is sketchy, and where youth teams are great, but the players don't turn out to be much. Could be a pattern.

2. maczebus, you should check out some college basketball message boards, and see how "fans" discuss 15, 16, and 17 year old kids. You'll have a nervous breakdown. The Adu case is nothing in comparison.

3. I find this story interesting, in light of Chris Bergin working on a story that MLS is going to lose a young star, and there's nothing they can do about it. Since it's Chris, there's a pretty good chance it's an English team, which means Quaranta (the only young player who won't need a work permit.) But even then, he'd have to have a min. release clause or something in order for MLS to have no say in the matter.

The other possibility is a player not already in MLS. I quickly thought of Adu.

Which ties in with this...I would think if he moves to Milan or Amsterdam, and is out of the country, that would hinder his citizenship quest.

But if he gets his US passport before going overseas....

[mpruitt]

that was a phenominal article

[Ives#10]

do any of you kow ghanian footballers. ha! if you where african you would understand how much. players lie about there age. and how skilled they are. I can promise you there are more then a 100 peles in african ecspecial west africa. but the thing is .nobody knows them. unless you live there.. ghania kids are the most skilled in the world. but when they get older....... i know a ghanian player. that is gonna be a sen. in high school next year..and is sopossed to be 18 years old teen.. but he ussed to play for the ghanian 17 tteam 5 years ago . that would mean he was 12 when he played for them.. but he wasent. in most of africa. there ages are differt. and when they come here(usa) they can be any age they want..as long as they are close..to there real age.....so poeple jsut lie about there age so they can get in to schools and stuff for education. or work and stuff it happens all the time. i am sure this kid id good. but there is thousdays of kidds just as good... he is just lucky to have been seen..
i dont hat.. i just know the truth

[jeffd]

keep sampson away from the nats.- I've seen Freddy play and he does exist, watched him tool on some NCAA Div.1 players in training camp. Of course, they resorted to hacking him, but he had a handful of goals in the two games I saw.

[dcc134]

I believe you need 5 years of residency to be eligible for citizenship, so if they arrived in 98, that would make them eligible in 2003.

[Preston North End]

Sampson's problem was with player management not finding or the development of talent. This is why he has been successful as, basically, the Director of Player Development of CYSA-South. He doesn't always coach teams, thus the chance to screw up the players heads is virtually nil. His ability to find talent in US Soccer circles is among the best. His ability to lead a group of players is among the worst.

Regard Adu...US fans may be high on the kid, but my guess (I'm not privvy to conversations at US Soccer House or Arena's converstations) is that US Soccer is just covering the bases by doing two things...

1. Adu is training with the U17 team in Bradenton last I heard.

2. US Soccer is making sure the application process is handled as best as it can be.

To me this doesn't mean US Soccer thinks that they have found the player that will lead the US to a World Cup title. It just means they are being professional about the process of making Adu a US citizen and potentially a good soccer player.

If you all you had to do was play soccer and fill out paperwork - play the waiting game too - until you became a US citizen (or citizen of any country) and you end up with all the money in the world (win a World Cup), would you make sure all of your i's were dotted?

[nobody]

Well, if as the article says, the kid is really 5' 7" can we at least agree that he's not dominating through size? 5' 7" is not excessivbely big for a 13 year old, and if he's actually a year or two older, it's even les a factor. And, if you take into consideration that he's playing against U17s these days it appears, he may be smaller than most guys on the field.

[mattgabe]

Not to be the voice of reason or anything, but does it really matter how old the kid is? I mean, if he has the ability to play professionally and even at the level of the USMNT, and he WANTS to play for the US someday, why shouldn't he?

[superdave]

Originally posted by mattgabe
Not to be the voice of reason or anything, but does it really matter how old the kid is?
Of course it does. If he had the exact same ability, but was 23 years old, would we be excited about him? Hell no. If Landon was Clint's age, would we be so hopeful? No.

If he's really 16 instead of 13 (for example), then that's 3 years of development that he's already had, that we think is still ahead of him. So it's a huge, huge, huge factor.

In a different sport, Bill James has done some groundbreaking work on the career expectations for players of a given ability at different ages.

Let's put it this way...Rafael Furcal was a potential Hall of Famer, based on his early career. But now that we know he's two years older than we thought, he's an HOF longshot.

[DAKCrew]

Give the kid a break and let him play with his G.I. Joe and Transformers

[soccer4ever]

Originally posted by dcc134
The latest on our man Freddy Adu

http://soccer365.com/US_home/Features_Interviews/page_38_36615.shtml


Seems he doesn't yet have his citizenship, but the powers to be are working to get it done.

How much should the MLS offer a 14 year old?

Thanks for the link.

MLS should pay him the highest allowed for the longest contract term possible to ensure that no European team picks him up. MLS and USMNT need this kid more than can be expressed in words.

[Parkhead_Faithful]

Originally posted by The Wanderer
I don't think anyone's pinning their hopes on him. But the kid is gifted and if he wasn't Internazionale wouldn't have come looking to sign him.

not nessecerily. big clubs sign lots of talented youngsters his age from all over the world. Most will never see professional first team football.

[FootyMundo]

Originally posted by maczebus
I can't believe there's so much fuss surrounding this Freddy character.

Does anyone else think pinning an entire nations footballing future on a 14 year old is a bit wierd?
Not to mention the fact that that amount of pressure usually buggers things up.
What happens if, like so many other promising youngsters the world over, he fails to translate his talent to the bigger stages?

I'd agree with you except that in the United States there really is very little pressure. If the team fails the media says "we told you so". If they succeed the media gets on a bandwagon.

[schmuckatelli]

Originally posted by maczebus
Does anyone else think pinning an entire nations footballing future on a 14 year old is a bit wierd?
Oh, come now. Everyone know all the United States' hopes are pinned on Landon Donovan!
;)

[Reuben]

I have been a huge USMNT fan since 1986 when we couldn't sniff a spot at the world cup, so when I hear about another spectacular young talent I get excited. There was a time when I only dreamed of qaulifying for the world cup. Now we've finished 8th, we have lots of young talent, and another potential superstar on the horizon.
It's awesome! Lets all enjoy it. We're fans and this is what we do.
Now I don't think it's too much preassure for a 13-15 year old. This is reality in the soccer world. Anywhere in the world, when a young kid shows soccer talent, he would be pursued by profesional teams. He is actually getting less hype and preassure than if he lived in europe. In europe he would already be signed to some club.
Next, the reason greats are so composed is that they are use to the preassure by the time they get into the spotlight on the worlds' greatest stages...be it soccer (landon donovon) or golf (tiger woods) or tennis stars (fill in any young female star)
I think everything is progressing along perfectly.

[Yankee_Blue]

Originally posted by Ives#10
do any of you kow ghanian footballers. ha! if you where african you would understand how much. players lie about there age. and how skilled they are. I can promise you there are more then a 100 peles in african ecspecial west africa. but the thing is .nobody knows them. unless you live there.. ghania kids are the most skilled in the world. but when they get older....... i know a ghanian player. that is gonna be a sen. in high school next year..and is sopossed to be 18 years old teen.. but he ussed to play for the ghanian 17 tteam 5 years ago . that would mean he was 12 when he played for them.. but he wasent. in most of africa. there ages are differt. and when they come here(usa) they can be any age they want..as long as they are close..to there real age.....so poeple jsut lie about there age so they can get in to schools and stuff for education. or work and stuff it happens all the time. i am sure this kid id good. but there is thousdays of kidds just as good... he is just lucky to have been seen..
i dont hat.. i just know the truth

I'm just guessing, but are you Freddie's English teacher?

[Yankee_Blue]

Originally posted by DAKCrew
Give the kid a break and let him play with his G.I. Joe and Transformers

Err.. Umm... We have no control in this situation. I can't tell hime where to go and what to do. It's all speculation really. I do hope that you find somebody to play G.I. Joe and Transformers with though.

[voros]

Originally posted by blech


I'm as happy as anyone else that the US team did well, and that the MLS played a part in the success. However, it remains my opinion that the MLS is a minor league, and that at the end of the day our players better off playing in Europe.

I don't think Landon Donovan would even disagree with you, but the choice all too often is _playing_ in MLS, or _sitting_ in Europe.

Sitting around watching other people play Soccer does not make you a great player. Otherwise most of the people on this board would be great players.

The best thing for the players' skills would be to go to Europe and play. The best thing for the players' wallets would be to go to Europe. That's really the dynamic that exists.