http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/news/2003/03/03/freddy/ this is the magazine version, quite a bit different than the previous one
Bet Troy Dayak just loved this article. First, the details of him being schooled by a 12-year old (at the time) are detailed in the most famous sports magazine in the country and on top of that, they spell his name wrong!
“I see myself in a World Cup final for the U.S.A., playing against a top-notch team everyone picks to win,” he <Adu> says. “And we just come out and blast them. One day when I’m holding that trophy, someone’s gonna take a picture. Oh, man. That is going to be huge.” f'ing goosebumps boys and girls...goosebumps!
Key Paragraph: "If I go to another country, I’ll play with their youth team for a year and then maybe jump into a professional setting.” But new FIFA regulations forbid players under 18 from transferring into the European Union (unless they are moving for family reasons), and MLS recently rebuffed the Adus’ inquiry about the possibility of Freddy’s joining the league this season. (“At some point we’ll look at it again, but 13 is just too young,” says deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis.)
"Since their arrival in Potomac, Freddy and Fro (now 11 and in the U.S. under-15 pool) have thrived in sports and in school. Yet Freddy had never played organized soccer until the day a fourth-grade classmate, dazzled by Freddy’s recess exploits, brought him to a tournament hosted by the Potomac Soccer Association. " Who is this 4th grader that "discovered" him and how do I send him a thank you note?
Yeboah I'm assuming that this isn't the Ghanian international and ex-Leeds player, Tony Yeboah, is it?
man, ************ that ************ about not letting him cuss. I dont see why he can't join MLS after the U-17 tourney. I mean, he's on par with memo, right? Who cares how old he is? if he's ready, he's ready. If you hold out, he's going to jump to europe and that would be a huge missed oppurtunity for MLS and US soccer.
'...Freddy has persuaded Emelia to accept a pro offer this time. “I think I’m ready,” he says. “I’ve played against MLS teams and done the same things to them that I do in every other game."' Another interesting quote. Other articles seem to give the impression that Freddy is interested in playing for MLS, which apparently isnt the case. Unfortunately, he may be forced to if he wants professional experience, because of that new law. I love the confidence though.
Either MLS is trying to protect the kid, they're afraid of the PR hit, or both. The logical course of action would be for Freddy to join the league next spring, play for 3 seasons, then go to Europe at the winter transfer window of january 2007. Spend a half season playing reserves, then (assuming he's good enough, which at this point is a big assumption) move up to the seniors in August 2007.
26 hours and 11 minutes until he plays for the USA for the first time. All we get is Matchtracker.. Boo hoo..
i would like to be the first one to say that freddy adu will not have a big impact on the us national team , ever
well, he's already training with DCU in the summers anyway. Why not let him on the roster and maybe he gets a few minutes here and there...
i would imagine the T was left off for a special graphic letter that was replaced with "sports illustrated"... they probably just forgot to put it back in
I would like to be the first or whatever number I'll be, to say that Freddy will have a huge impact on the USMNT. I hope he is a part of MLS before jumping to Europe. While Europe is good, I don't think it is the end all be all of football and suspect MLS will be able to hang with the big boys there.
we should hope. the best youth and development program in the world would be a nice fit. worked wonders for job and the rest of the current ajax lineup.
Yeah, that's a drop cap in the magazine, which is part of the layout file and not the text of the story (technical stuff). Web folks obviously grabbed the text and didn't stick the T back in.
Didn't want to start a thread on this, but here's the link to a story in today's Wash. Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41941-2003Mar4.html