Bruce working to expedite Freddy's citizenship

[superdave]

Originally posted by chad
He could never have played for the Cougars if he had not presented a birth certificate, and he did."
This only begs the question of whether or not the b.c. is accurate.

[Haus Bilas]

Originally posted by superdave

This only begs the question of whether or not the b.c. is accurate. And unfortunately, because of the nature of this, we'll never know for sure...

We can choose to accept it, or we can discuss scandal. Personally, I'm just going to watch and wait and hope that this player develops into something special...

[Brownswan]

In a few years he'll go straght to the senior team. Age won't matter till we wonder whether he's 33 or 36!

[Lawmill]

I recall someone (or maybe an article) mentioning a few months ago that he had skipped forward several grades in school, and was already in high school or something?

Does anyone remember this? Can you confirm or deny?

[superdave]

hmmmm...if true, that makes it all the more suspicious. You have a kid who is supposed to be 12, but who was skipped a couple of years in school a few years previously, *AND* is 99th %ile for lean weight for 12 years old, *AND* has grown into his size sufficiently to be a superb athlete.

PS...now that you mention, yeah, I remember something like that.

[Haig]

Originally posted by monster
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.




Doesn't the USSF have some good connections in expediting citizenship papers? If I'm not mistaken, Henry Kissinger has stepped in twice, one with Roy Wegerle, and another time with David Regis, to get the State Dept./INS to hasten the process. I'll withhold my opinion on his morality when he was working for Nixon to point out that he has been an invaluable friend of US soccer. If the USSF has strings to pull, they'll go through him.

[chad]

Originally posted by superdave

This only begs the question of whether or not the b.c. is accurate.

I know that. Indeed, the reporter has a vested interest in making sure Freddy is age-appropriate for his kids youth team.

Nonetheless, we have a BC, on the one hand. On the other, we have some statistics compared to growth charts, someone who knows someone type stuff, and the Ghana-age concern.

I tell you, the first two against Freddy seem pretty weak. The last one requires a reason for the Adu's to lie when he moved here, and there has yet to be an attractive candidate.

Did you all have drinks with Thomas Flannigan recently?

[GersMan]

yes chad, some of this stuff if pretty irritating. The post from gnk should be removed. Anybody can get on here and say, hey, I know someone, and that person knows gnk, and they told me that gnk likes to ********** with *********** or whatever. And that's all the documentation you apparently need to attack somebody with on here.

Now even that is not as bad because we don't know who gnk is, but Freddy is a real, live person and you are accusing him of something pretty serious. And again, what is really gained if he is, in fact, 15? JohnR???

As to his size I'll just say what I said before, he's NOT THAT BIG. What is so hard about that to decipher? If you want to say I'm lying, fine, but otherwise, don't keep coming out with this "he's a freak of nature or something" stuff. I can think of kids from when I was 13 who were clearly bigger than him, and no, they were not fat, either.

He's for real. Deal with it.

[saroccer]

have to agree with the 'he's not that big' camp.

my baby brother was 5'10" at 13...and while he was bigger than most of the kids - he wasn't overwhelmingly so. that said, I come from a developing country and it is rather common to change the birth-dates according to need - although I've only seen people say they are older so they can get their kids into schools...

and while i'm at it: diego maradona is a really bad example - yeah, he was a stunning soccer player - but look at him now, pissing his life away. let him stay here and develop the mental maturity that MUST come with talent.

[GersMan]

Well said saro,

Of course, Diego stayed home.

He is mature, and he is not keyed up about any of this. He looks forward to a chance to play for the U.S. and abroad, and who wouldn't, but he's not obsessed about it. He also thinks it is quite funny how many people who he doesn't know try to tell him what he should do with his life.

I think his friends and family keep him on an even keel, but all with the recognition that this is a special case.

[saroccer]

Originally posted by GersMan
He also thinks it is quite funny how many people who he doesn't know try to tell him what he should do with his life.


when really, everyone should just listen to me ;)

[sanariot]

Originally posted by Lawmill
I recall someone (or maybe an article) mentioning a few months ago that he had skipped forward several grades in school, and was already in high school or something?

Does anyone remember this? Can you confirm or deny?

I've thought it odd as well that he's 13 and has already completed a year of high school, but I do remember reading (same article?) that he was an excellent student.

[dtwanchope]

Let's just accept the age until proven otherwise. If he has a legit B.C. then what can you do? If he's ballin' in Bradenton at 16, then he's still bigtime.

[Haus Bilas]

Originally posted by GersMan
He's for real. Deal with it. Why is this so hard for some people to accept? Presumably, we're all US fans given that we're reading this board. Is it that "we" don't want to get too excited and then have our hopes dashed? Or is it just general disbelief that anyone coming out of the US soccer system could at some point be one of the world's greatest players?

Do you remember those Nike commercials some time ago where there is this tour going on of this mansion where the tour guide says things like, "And this is where he practiced his trademark free kick, the helix." and "here is the jersey he wore when he scored twice against Germany as the US won their second world cup."

I think she was talking about Freddy, and that old guy at the end stuffing grass into his pocket? That's me man!

No pressure Freddy. No pressure.

[mpruitt]

btw. have any of you actually ever seen this kid play? on tv? live whatever? this kids like a black soccer version of the great white hype.

[RevsForev]

my nephew lives in the suburban DC area and he plays HS and club soccer. forget whether it was with his club team or school team (guessing the former, but could be the latter if Freddy was in h. school last year) but he played against him and said this kid scored 5 goals in the game, was subbed out in the 2nd half.

[Haus Bilas]

Originally posted by maxim-1
btw. have any of you actually ever seen this kid play? on tv? live whatever? this kids like a black soccer version of the great white hype.And you are... ?

Originally posted by RevsForev
my nephew ... played against him and said this kid scored 5 goals in the game, was subbed out in the 2nd half. Yep. Sounds like the "great white hype" to me.

[GersMan]

Really. Give us a couple more "great white hypes" and we'll be in business.

[gnk]

Originally posted by GersMan
yes chad, some of this stuff if pretty irritating. The post from gnk should be removed. Anybody can get on here and say, hey, I know someone, and that person knows gnk, and they told me that gnk likes to ********** with *********** or whatever. And that's all the documentation you apparently need to attack somebody with on here.

Now even that is not as bad because we don't know who gnk is, but Freddy is a real, live person and you are accusing him of something pretty serious. And again, what is really gained if he is, in fact, 15? JohnR???

...

He's for real. Deal with it.

GersMan: As I said in my post "Take it for what it is worth". I was not attacking you or anyone else with my post. I was simply passing on some information. I would have expected you to realize that.

[mpruitt]

Originally posted by Haus Bilas
And you are... ?



Cpt. Ahab