Here Allen's latest article, this one about our favorite 13-year-old: http://foxsportsworld.lycos.com/content/view?contentId=915610
it's nice to see some increased coverage of the u.s. game from fox... i've noticed several articles from hopkins of late... let's hope it continues... i'd imagine that it should if mls does in fact enter the regular programming of fsw
My personal moratorium against acknowledging his name or accomplishments until he can drive to practice persist, but... that's a pretty tall order for a prepubescent 13yr old
I guess in a year or two, we can all see him play for DC United. Until then, all we have are match reports unless ESPN shows Adu's games a la Lebron James, which would be something.
Slow down on the DC stuff! I've mentioned this before. The national teams are all moving to LA as you know, including the youth teams. Training here never needs to stop for weather, for one thing. Anyway, his mom works for Home Depot too! What a perfect situation.. The Adu family moves to LA where she is employed by Home Depot while her son plays for the Galaxy at The Home Depot Center and she is close to Freddie while he is playing with the Galaxy and training with the nats in year round sunshine and warmth which will speed his development even more!
Its just that Freddy has more family members than his mom and they live in the Baltimore/DC area. His mom's second job his with Home Depot as it says in that article. Also I have read that the only MLS team he is willing to play for is DC United. As for the climate, its not like living in a colder area has really stunted his development up to now.
small detail, but the championship against the Potomac Cougars wasn't last summer, but two summers ago. He didn't play youth soccer last summer.
Oh God, imagine a Pele of our own, an american Pele, maybe even bigger, and might be the youngest player to appear in the WC competition , in 3 years he will be 16 come Germany 2006. I just hope he will stay and develop here in the states, MLS first before he signs for a big Euro team.
I would like to imagine a world where Mrs. Adu doesn't have to work 70 hours a week to support her family and can give up a crappy second job at Home Depot because MLS gives her son enough to support her instead of some $20,000 a year P-40 contract.
Where have you read that he only wants to play for United? That would be quite a coup for MLS if they manage to pull it off. Sachin
No, I don't remeber where, but I imagine that Adu coming into the league would be akin to the deal Convey worked with the MLS when he came into the league.
Ughh, Convey was drafted #12 by United.. 11 other MLS teams slept on him... Perhaps you were reffering to Chris Albright or Ben Olsen, who in essence, were handed to United....
Eeek.. Florida. I remember the last time I was there the humidity was so horrid, I couldn't get my hair dry for the entire day after I took a shower. There are a lot of breaks for thunderstorms down there also. I can't remember the last time I heard thunder here. The only place in the USA that could argue it has better weather for training than LA would be San Diego. They would likely take the prize for the best climate in the country.
He worked out a deal with the MLS to come into the league, but part of that deal was that he was only to go DC United, since it was the team closest to him and, at that time, the best team in MLS. So in the draft, DC was the only one who could pick him, regardless of their position.
Another small detail: He did play youth soccer last summer when the Bethesda Internationals (the Cougars moved to Bethesda Soccer Club after the national title). He led the team to the Region tournament in NY state, but picked up a slight knock in the knee and sat out the team's last two games. The Internationals did not make it out of group at regions. http://www.gazette.net/200223/wheaton/sports/107343-1.html http://www.gazette.net/200227/olney/sports/111169-1.html RS
Okay, here's a sentence that is definitely over the top in this story: "Adu represents the present and future of U.S. Soccer, and seemingly the only question that remains is whether his young shoulders are broad enough to carry the hopes of a soccer nation." Okay, I'm willing to believe this kid has got the goods, but come on... He represents the "present" of U.S. Soccer. He's already displaced Landon Donovan and Clint Mathis... Please... I'm starting to believe the Freddy hype is due to one thing and one thing only: we've now got a couple of dozen guys who make a living writing about soccer and there ain't no soccer going on right now. So they're all writing the same story over and over again. On the other hand... Quotes like this one in the story are irresistable. "If he started in an MLS game tomorrow, he wouldn't be out of place," Hudson told the Miami Herald. "He fit like a hand in a glove with our lads. They fell in love with the kid." And he's only 13.
As any Californian should know, there is only one city that is worthy of the designation "best climate". In fact, it is the only city that has an arch by the train station with its name in pink neon along with the phrase "Climate best by government test". Come on, name that city. )
The last time DC was the best team in MLS, Freddy Adu was, what, 9? I doubt he was in contract talks at the time.
Can hardly wait to see him play BUT i have a few questions. The article says he moved here when he was 8. This means he must have picked up his skills in Africa at an even younger age. As a longtime youth coach, you see a few kids that are advanced compared to the others at the U8 level but even the best don't have good skills compared to the best U12 or U14 players. Somehow this kid came from Africa with superior skills and immediately started going to the top? Either there's something extra special in the water there or kids are somehow better atheletes at let's say age 3 or... maybe he's a bit older then they say. Getting by all that, let's go back to where he grew up and bring over the kids he played with. Where there's one, there might be more. Heck, we can even get the whole bunch a passport and form an instant National team if they're as good as him. They'll never be able to say no to the money for too long. I'm betting he never plays in the MLS He's probally going to be great and will benefit the US but I would rather see us get there with players that were born and raised here. I've always had a problem with the capping of guys like Doolie, Stuart, Roy W, The French guy (cant think of his name) to name a few that really never lived here before playing a game. This kid has at least lived here for ahwile and isn't in the "I once knew an American" catagory. Nothing against him but I want to see the day when the US shoves it down the throats of the Eurosnobs, on a regular basis, using born and raised Americans players.