In America there's more racism outside the stadium than in. In Europe it's exactly the opposite. Still those 'racist' fans are always 'ultras' or whatever, who's views do not represent the other 95% of normal fans in the stadium. Those most rabid (and IQ challenged) fans supposedly will use any means to get under the opposing teams' skin, pun intended, but really they're just marginalized losers who want to draw attention to themselves. That said, I'm bummed Adu didn't come to Parma! Though it's good that he'll get a chance to play in the Champions League this year.
"The child prodigy arrives today" http://jn.sapo.pt/2007/07/30/desporto/meninoprodigio_chega_hoje.html
Question: Freddy's barely 18. Is this like sending your kid off to college -- only to a foreign country where he doesn't speak the language? Was he living by himself in Salt Lake City? What are the chances he'll hate it there, put on 15 pounds and be home by Christmas?
I don't think homesickness will be a big deal. He's been preparing himself for this since he was 14. I don't know if his mom would move with him. After all, she just can't leave Fro here in the US. I do believe it'll take him a little time to settle, though. How long, who knows? Each player's got a different situation. It was a full year before Bobby Convey was playing regularly for Reading, while Michael Bradley got more first team experience in Herenveen during his first season. Benfica's not the kind of club that can throw kids out there for experience. They've got pressure to win trophies. Freddy's got to show in practice that he can help them win first. I have no doubts he will, but it may take 1/2 a season until he makes his debut. Just my opinion, though.
It beats babelfish, but just barely: Fredua Koranteg Adu arrives? is on his way? to Benfica and he arrives today in Lisbon to sign a contract for five seasons. Of Ghanian origin -- he was born in the African city of Tema on 2 June, 1989 - his transfer was secured for nearly 2 million euros with the objective of reinforcing? Simao Sabrosa. Secondly the acquisition should also help open the doors of the Stadium of Luz to the large North American market. For the reason that Adu is one of the rare faces of "soccer" that the inhabitants of the country recognize easily. Nike supports him. At 13 years of age, he already was earning a million dollars a year. The athlete, who moved with his family to the U.S. when he only was eight years old and obtained citizenship at 14, is already known around the world and has various times shown quality for such a tender age. He was -- for example -- the youngest scorer in the history of MLS, and the press in the U.S. has always described him as a child prodigy. At 16 he awakened the interest of Real Madrid and Manchester United. He was not signed because the U.S. puts up many barriers to those that want to work abroad before the age of 18. (¡¡¡¡¿¿¿¿¿??????!!!!!!!). Nevertheless -- he left his family in 2000 -- his mother Emelia never looked well on the dearly departure of her son, an attacking midfielder who can play on the left as well as behind a striker. A lover of golf -- he admires Tiger Woods -- Adu will earn nearly 35 thousand euros a month, plus a car and house allowance. Strangely, Real Salt Lake -- the team he has recently played for -- doesn't bemoan the departure of the youngster. Their front office argue that in 11 games, he has scored only one goal and had two assists. In any case, he shined at the u-20 World Cup with some nice play and three goals. The rest are team notes: They're looking for a central defender. Let the Gooch rumors begin.
Well if Eusebio is considered Portuguese even though he didn't move to Portugal until he was 19 years old I hope that in Portugal they will refer to Adu as an American rather than a Ghanaian. After all, he came to the U.S. when he was only 8.
Hm… did Ghana make part of the US territory by the time Adu was born? I don’t think so… Eusébio didn’t earn Portuguese citizenship, he was born Portuguese (like everyone else, by that time).
He is Ghanaian-American isn't he? And Freddy Adu's transfer was mentioned on SkySports News just now, and they actually showed some highlights of the DC United Superliga match . I guess 'Soccer' isn't seen as some sort of joke now. Hmmm....
In strictly soccer terms, you really are only one country or the other (since you can only play for one country or the other). So, he's an American. As far as where he got his ability and skills- well, that mostly from a higher source anyway- basically all of his development happened in the US, in US leagues, etc. He was 8 years old when he arrived, and he never played organized soccer in Ghana. So, he's basically American on that too. He was born in Ghana (true), and played with the local kids in the neighborhood soccer there (true). Does that make him 'Ghanian-American'. I dunno. In soccer terms that's really flattering for Ghana if that's the case. We do call people 'African-American' here, but funny enough- not a lot of people would describe Freddy that way (but this is a longer, strange story not worthy of this thread)... Probably 30% of America has a fairly strong connection overseas. For soccer, that figure may be higher. I'd be German-American, for example. Guiseppi Rossi, for example, was born and raised in the US, but was so influenced by his 'Italian' parents, that he wants to play for the Italian national team (the bastard! ). But he's definitely a Yank, and learned his soccer here (in a large way(..
Let's just drop the racism stuff all together. The point that America is more racist than Europe is debateable to say the least. Just point to recent far right political successes throughout Europe due largely to Arab and African immigration issues. Freddy likely just didn't know much about Portugal and wanted to find out if there were racism issues in the stadium and on the streets. I'm very excited Freddy's on his way to Portugal/Benfica. It's a great club that will provide Freddy a good opportunity to develop into a great footballer.
Monkey noises do NOT happen in the US. Look, the US is not racial nirvana, but when we read about fans throwing bananas or making monkey noises, our reaction is less, "wow, that's racist" than "wow, that's just ********ing weird."
From my experience, the chance will be greatly reduced if he can find at least a ******** buddy. EDIT: Sorry, I don't usually drop the F bomb this much.
A guy making monkey noises in the stands would be regarded similarly to a guy fecking a goat. Disturbed, stupid, you just want to get the hell away from him. The U.S. is very different in that regard from certain sections of Europe.
Yeah, there might be more subtle racism in the U.S., but if anyone tried to make monkey noises at, say, an NBA or NFL game, they should hope the police get to them first.
You say let's drop it, but then you stir the pot. The notion of 'racism issues on the streets' in Europe is just paranoia, bud. And like I said before, the overwhelming majority of folks who go to the stadium think monkey noises are moronic. The handful of dorks who do that kind of thing in the anonymity of the stadium would be too embrassed to do it in any other public venue. They'd be laughed at.
Freddy Adu chega hoje a Lisboa para assinar contrato por cinco anos com o Benfica. O jovem promissor internacional norte-americano, possível substituto de Simão no ataque, irá receber cerca de 400 mil euros anualmente, valores muito próximos dos que auferia no seu país. A Benfica, SAD desembolsou dois milhões de euros para a sua aquisição – verba entregue à Major League Soccer –, e, desse valor, 500 mil euros irão para os cofres do Real Salt Lake, clube onde actuava Adu. "O jogador viajou para Washington nas últimas horas, para se juntar à mãe e ao empresário e viajar para Lisboa para acertar os derradeiros detalhes do contrato que o irá ligar ao Benfica nas próximas cinco épocas", confirmou o porta-voz do Real Salt Lake, Trey Fitzgerald, já depois de a MLS ter admitido que o negócio está praticamente concluído. Adu já não participou na derrota caseira da sua equipa diante do New England Revolution. O avançado deverá ser o último jogador contratado para jogar no ataque da equipa da Luz. O mais jovem profissional da história do futebol Mundial – está nessa condição desde os 14 anos –, começará a treinar-se imediatamente, por forma a adquirir o mais rapidamente os automatismos desejados pelo treinador, pois é intenção de Fernando Santos tê-lo à disposição para a pré-eliminatória da Liga dos Campeões. Menino-prodígio à procura de afirmação Freddy Adu tem apenas 18 anos, mas há muito que é um dos nomes mais falados do futebol mundial, porque, com apenas 14 anos, já era considerado um prodígio e foi o mais jovem jogador de sempre a assinar um contrato profissional – com a MLS, que o colocou a jogar no DC United. Adu rapidamente se tornou um símbolo do "soccer" nos Estados Unidos da América, um dos poucos países onde o futebol não é o "desporto-rei". Ainda adolescente, começou a ganhar muito dinheiro e, aos 16 anos, fez a sua estreia com a selecção A norte-americana, num particular diante do Canadá. Esperava-se que pudesse ser chamado para o Mundial'2006, mas o seleccionador Bruce Arena não arriscou convocar um atleta tão jovem. Já este ano, Adu transferiu-se para o Real Salt Lake, clube do estado do Utah com o qual disputou apenas 11 partidas. O seu percurso profissional não é brilhante (12 golos em 98 jogos), mas o seu talento é real, como recentemente demonstrou no Mundial Sub-20, no qual apontou três golos. No Benfica, terá a sua primeira experiência no estrangeiro – e o grande teste às suas capacidades Freddy Adu is in Lisbon at Benfica's Estadio da Luz and is about to put pen to paper
So according to you, Giuseppi Rossi is fully American even though he left the states at a young age to Italy (where both of his parents originate) where also according you, didn't play a major part in developing his football skills; yet Freddy Adu who was born in Ghana, still has close ties to the country, and also left the country at a relatively young age should not be refered to as Ghanaian?......yet Giuseppi is "definitely a Yank" huh Do you see something inherently wrong with your reasoning? In "soccer terms" as you call it, Giuseppi is as much an Italian as Freddy is American and no sort of myopic opinion can change that. But as both of them hold dual citizenship, they are effectively both ______- Americans. I hold dual citizenship as well and fancy myself both an American and the country of my birth; even though I moved to the states when I was two. I'm not the one to bring politics into a discussion, but the term "African-American" is also pretty damn stupid lol.
I was born in America but my parents originate from Portugal so would I ever play for Portugal heck yeah its the way we were raised by Portuguese parents. And if you know anything about Jersey were Rossi was born everyone pretty much identifies themselves by were their Parents are from and his name is Guiseppe Rossi how Italian is that and if he did live in USA for a while most ppl called him plainly Italian based on the name alone
Then if it's so great, and you love it so much, go back. Theres no problem with national identity, but the fact is, you're American. You eat American food, you speak our language, you watch our TV, you go to school with our kids and are taught by our teachers. You drive our cars (disclaimer: I drive an Acura), you play sports in our leagues, and if you're born here you vote in our elections. Rossi was the same way - he was here until he was 14. Freddy came over here at a younger age, but he might as well be born here with his pop star girlfriend and his Nike endorsement deals. Don't get me wrong, I love Portugal, it's beautiful.
If Freddy doesn't get alot of playing time right away, I just hope he doesn't get frustrated and want to come back to MLS or make a bunch of noise and become a nuisance. I just hope he has the patience to stick it out if things don't go his way immediately.
Yeah until 4th of July comes around and everyone is waving their American flags pretending to be the most American person in the country.