Not sure if this has been posted here already. Anyway, I found this one to be a wee bit eye popping. Looks like he has some decent control of the ball eh in a game situation. http://www.mnthunder.com/Video/Adu_vs_guat. If that link doesn't work, just go to http://www.mnthunder.com and look at the upper right side of the front page where they are promoting a game involving the U-17 team.
He beats 6 guys in the space of 20 yards. That first touch to beat the first two defenders is unreal. He literally changes direction 180 degrees with a single touch. Incredible stuff.
I thought the finish was quite good. Not perfect obviously... perfect would have been 6 inches lower, glancing off the crossbar and down into the net instead of into the 6 yard box. Finishing that well after such a run is one of the toughest things to do. He's a great player for his age and hopefully he'll continue to progress at a normal pace. If he does, he can do some damage for the US MNT and in Europe.
Some damage? If he keeps progressing at a "normal" pace he'll stop being human. Go to www.mifutbol.com and hunt around for video highlights from the other games his team played in that tourney. In the course of 3 days he creates a reel of hightlights that is mindboggling. There's a bicycle kick he sets up for himself that can't really be described. There's also a mazy run against Jamaica where the finish is a bit better than the one I linked you to. This kid is just flat out sick to watch.
Un f'ing believable. I am pinching myself to believe that he's an American!!!! That was the most impressive thing I've ever seen an American do with a ball. A close second was the 'meg Landon put on some poor German defender in the quarterfinal game, only to have Kahn pull out his best save of the tournament. I hope Adu has some good advisors. I would think Bruce Arena would be all over this kid. Not to bring him into the senior team but to start guiding him in terms of where and with whom he should be training. I heard an interview with Arena the other day and he really didn't seem all that impressed or eager to get involved. This kid may someday get him into the semis or finals some time down the road.
A Brazilian relative of mine has some old Pele' tapes - very similar. Both can move and cut at a much faster pace than anyone else on the field. Let's just hope he doesn't fade out like all the other youths from Ghana...
I don't see how ball skills like these "fade out". The only question is whether his body matures at the right pace. There's no denying the talent.
The "fade out" phenomenon is probably not biological. It's probably more of a developmental institution gone awry.
Unless you read a different quote than I did... Bruce was basically saying the only thing he can say. "American Soccer fans, don't get your panties in a bunch... he's only a kid. I plan to bring him along at a reasonable pace and not put more pressure than is necessary on him." I don't think Arena should be too eager to get involved. We have a youth national team for a reason... When the kid gets a few more years under his belt then you start considering calling him in. Or, if he does really well at the U-17 WC in August then they've got a whole other set of things to think through. Does he go to MLS or does he go to Europe. I agree though, Adu may help the US get into the semis or finals in 2010. We can certainly hope he's good enough to help and the rest of the USNMT program continues to improve as well.
Does anybody think he shouldn't go to Europe? Could you see this kid in 5-7 years after going through one of the European youth systems (a la O'Brien with Ajax) If this kid is to become the next Zidane, or Figo, or Totti, he needs to be trained by the same system that trained them. Whatever happens, this kid will be amazing to watch over the years. I hope there are more like him out there somewhere. He did resemble Pele from far off didn't he?
He's so small. Maradona-esque looking. Man, I watch that video over and over, and it doesn't get old. I keep thinking the ball is gonna find the back of the net. Unbelievable play from OUR Freddy!
When U.S. Soccer has a hard meritocracy at ALL levels instead of a soft classtocracy and racetocracy then we will win a World Cup. A hard and brutal NFL level meritocracy will give you this: "We always say, 'You can't hide Babe Ruth,' " said Bob Flint, a high school baseball coach for 35 years who has spent the last three seasons at Irvine's Woodbridge High School. "Even if I wanted to completely bury a kid, I couldn't do it ... if you're good enough, they'll find you." http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-coach5may05,1,4888713.story?coll=la-home-leftrail Coachesf Lineup Could Include a Lawyer ¡ Angry when their student-athlete's career languishes, parents sue the schools and instructors. Legal experts see a trend. A bit dated but still true. http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/culture.html A White Middle Class Sport Soccer is still a white, suburban, small town or white ethnic, urban sport, with smatterings of Hispanic teams in Spanish-speaking communities. African-American communities and African-American kids around the country, especially in our urban areas, have not yet adopted soccer in a manner similar to their suburban neighbors. There is no expectation of payoff, as there is with basketball or football, so African-American kids are not hungry for soccer. Few African-American parents know the game. Fields are scarce in inner-city neighborhoods, in contrast to basketball hoops found in every playground, driveway, and alley. And no one has attempted to concentrate resources for the development of soccer leagues, clinics, and administrators for the African-American community. Yet the potential is there. An American Pele or Eusebio is yet to be discovered, but in working with African-American youngsters in soccer clinics and on my team, I am convinced that someday African-American kids will discover soccer, will excel, will be the "Magic Johnsons" and "Dr. J's" of soccer, and will contribute to our development as a truly competitive soccer nation.
Mr. Cam... your comments are a bit true, but I have to take issue with some. "Soccer is still a white, suburban, small town or white ethnic, urban sport, with smatterings of Hispanic teams in Spanish-speaking communities. African-American communities and African-American kids around the country, especially in our urban areas, have not yet adopted soccer in a manner similar to their suburban neighbors. There is no expectation of payoff, as there is with basketball or football, so African-American kids are not hungry for soccer. Few African-American parents know the game. Fields are scarce in inner-city neighborhoods, in contrast to basketball hoops found in every playground, driveway, and alley. And no one has attempted to concentrate resources for the development of soccer leagues, clinics, and administrators for the African-American community. Yet the potential is there. An American Pele or Eusebio is yet to be discovered, but in working with African-American youngsters in soccer clinics and on my team, I am convinced that someday African-American kids will discover soccer, will excel, will be the "Magic Johnsons" and "Dr. J's" of soccer, and will contribute to our development as a truly competitive soccer nation." First of all you must admit that you are talking about soccer in a highly organized fashion is mostly white, middle-class, and suburban. I'll agree with that. But there are lots of places where hispanics play pick-up and in leagues that just aren't part of the "mainstream" whatever that means. Inner-city African American kids haven't adopted soccer. So? What's your point? Its not because soccer doesn't offer the same payoff! The sport with the biggest "payoff" is baseball, but you see more African American kids playing football and basketball. That could be because they like it more or because they have more access to facilities. How hard is it to practice basketball vs. baseball? For basketball all you need is a ball and a hoop... You need other people and open space for baseball. Soccer just isn't a spectator sport in the US yet. Once it is a popular spectator sport you'll see more kids in the inner city playing. No, no one has attempted to concentrate resources to change that. Soccer doesn't have a whole lot of resources in the US. The struggles of MLS should be evidence enough of that. Would I love for more people to set up programs like Eddie Pope's in DC? Of course. Is it likely? No. And as for your last point... there is no reason a white kid or hispanic kid can't become the Magic or Dr. J of soccer. Maybe a kid like Freddy or maybe its someone like Landon Donovan or Kyle Martino or Memo Gonzales.
Mr. Cam not write the passage in question. Full credit for the passage belongs to Cultural Implications of the Soccer Phenomenon in America Leonard P. Oliver <LoliverAso@aol.com> Oliver Associates, Washington, DC Originally published as a chapter in "Cultural Dimensions of Play, Games and Sport" (Ed. Bernard Mergen, Ph.D. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc., 1986). Reprinted by permission of the author at this web address;http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/culture.html "Soccer is still a white, suburban, small town or white ethnic, urban sport, with smatterings of Hispanic teams in Spanish-speaking communities. African-American communities and African-American kids around the country, especially in our urban areas, have not yet adopted soccer in a manner similar to their suburban neighbors. There is no expectation of payoff, as there is with basketball or football, so African-American kids are not hungry for soccer. Few African-American parents know the game. Fields are scarce in inner-city neighborhoods, in contrast to basketball hoops found in every playground, driveway, and alley. And no one has attempted to concentrate resources for the development of soccer leagues, clinics, and administrators for the African-American community. Yet the potential is there. An American Pele or Eusebio is yet to be discovered, but in working with African-American youngsters in soccer clinics and on my team, I am convinced that someday African-American kids will discover soccer, will excel, will be the "Magic Johnsons" and "Dr. J's" of soccer, and will contribute to our development as a truly competitive soccer nation." Has it ever occurred to you why 90% of the best Brazilian players happen to be Black Brazilians? Wrong!!! Financially speaking, soccer sucks from the player’s point of view. Wrong again!!! Financially speaking, the NBA and the NFL both have more secure financial structures to support them. When did Black American's become “they”? Why not just say “hey boy”? Do you have or know of a scientific study or survey that has definitively established the reasons why Black American people don’t participate in organized soccer? There’s that “they” word again! Soccer has many facilities. How hard is it to practice soccer vs. basketball? For soccer all you need is a ball and a dirt lot, some grass, or a street. In what sentence of the last paragraph did the author write imply or state such a statement! BTW - Is your name Heist or Jim Crow?
whoa there sparky (and by sparky i mean sparky and NOT 'hey boy') i realize that heists statements may have been slightly uninformed and his wording less than 100% politically correct, but at the same time i think your instantly branding him a hate-monger might be a little over the top (i use the word THEY all the time to refer to groups other than WE - we being we my family, or we who are gathered here today, or we like-minded peope, or we big-soccer posters), and well, hateful. he makes a few good points: 'organized' soccer is a majority suburban thing. when it becomes a specator sport the instances of pick-up games will probably go up because heck, more kids will be playing it. he is wrong about others. let it rest. no need to flip out.
Mr Cam Has it ever occurred to you why 90% of the best Brazilian players happen to be Black Brazilians? The Majority of Brazilians are mixed beyond recognition, you can no longer tell what their ethnicity is. Most are mixed with Portuguese, Italian, German, Dutch, the Ideginous tribes from the Amazons even Asians ect.. Big ups to the Scratch du Ouro
Re: Mr Cam Do you have or know of a scientific study or survey that has definitively established a factual foundation for your assertion?