Does anyone remember the story, about 5 years ago, of a Yank youth player who was so good, so promising, that Torino and Fiorentina got into a bitter dispute over him that made the papers over there? His dad was a dilplomat or something.Who was the kid and does anyone know what ever happened to him?Thx.
Hah... Well, I've only been doing this about two years so I'm afraid this is the first I've heard of it. Sorry... Anyone got some leads I could check out?
I always wondered what happened to this kid. Here's what I remember. I was living in Rome, the year was 1995 or 1996, and I read one day in the Gazzetta dello Sport about an American kid who was then, IIRC, 14 years old and was the star of Torino's youth system. The kid was black, Brazilian-born, and had been adopted by an American who was, again IIRC, the head of some American high school in Turin. I remember a photo of the kid in the Gazzetta doing a beautiful bicycle kick. And the report gushed about how he would be the next big star. Unfortunately, that was the first and last I ever heard of him.
excpet in 1995 Martins was 10 years old...and torina and fiorentina never had anything to do with Martins...try reading the post next time
I am glad someone else remembers this story.It was a big stink at the time. Either Torino or Fiorentina accused the other of hiring a relative of the kid or something to lure him away.It was crazy.
1997... this is when Mrs. Adu showed up in maryland, right? Mystery solved, he moved to the states, de-aged 6 years and became the cult icon known as Freddy
This is probably a different story, but I swear I remember reading in USAToday in 1997 about a Youth team playing in Italy and one particular player really standing out. I searched their archives and found this article, but not sure I want to pay $2.50 to find out if this is the article I remembered and I may just be misremembering about one player starring. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToda...get+three+wins+vs.+elite+developmental+squads
I remember clearly: the kid was black, Brazilian-born and adopted by an American family. I have emailed Torino asking for information. It may take a while, but I want to find out what happened.
All right, I think I'm getting somewhere on this. I just spoke to a guy at Torino and he remembers the kid. He told me to call back tomorrow so that I can speak to a youth coach whom he said probably knows what happened to him. So hopefully tomorrow I'll have the answer on this.
The mystery is unraveling. The director of Torino's youth system tells me that the player I have in mind is Jonothan Carlos Elliot. It turns out memory served me right about some of the details. Elliot is black, was born in Brazil and adopted by an American educator who moved the family to Turin when Elliot was about 10 years old. The kid got into Torino's youth system and made something of a name for himself at that level. About 3 years ago, Elliot moved over to Juventus. He apparently was on Juve's reserves last season but was let go last December on a free waiver. Where he is today and what he's doing I hope to find out tomorrow, when I speak with Juve's youth system director. I imagine he signed on with some other club, perhaps in a lesser league. But we shall see: stay tuned. As for more background, here's what I found out: Torino's youth director says Elliot has first-rate technical kills, calling them "super refined." He says Elliot plays wide midfield or withdrawn forward and is very fast and about 5'9''. He was born in March of 1984. He also suffered what the guy believed was a torn ACL about 3 or 4 years ago that kept him out of action quite a while. He did not know why Juve let Elliot go. I will have that tomorrow. Asked if he can become a top pro, he said: "Of course he can, but in soccer you also need a lot of luck." On Juve's web site from last year, Elliot appears on the first team; but his nationality is listed as Brazilian. Perhaps that was his choice or simply the way Juve presented it. He would obviously have U.S. citizenship as well, tho I can't imagine he's lived in the States much. But I'm going to try to sort that out too. Hopefully, I can follow this investigation until I get hold of Elliot personally. Who knows, the US could have another promising young star out there that we didn't know about.
Hey it looks like this kid is in the Championship Manager 4 database. Says there is a Carlos Elliot with Juventus U20s who is a Brazillian born December 4, 1984. Says he's a right footed midfielder who plays on the right and center. He doesn't have American listed as a second nationality nor are there any specific ratings for him (he's a completely random player), so I'm guessing he was just a name on someone's list with a birthday and a birthplace listed and he was added in.
Nationality Just because he was adopted by American parents and may or may not have lived at some point in the States does not mean that he is an American citizen. It'd be easy to get him naturalized, but does he identify himself as American? Would he want to play for the US Nats?
Re: Nationality I don't think this is correct. After all, the kid's over 18 and resides outside the US ...
Re: Nationality Carlos Elliot definitely has American citizenship, since foreigners under 18 adopted by U.S. citizens virtually get citizenship automatically. Whether he would want to play for the USA is another question, and one I hope to ask him. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a lot more on this.
Re: Re: Nationality Yeah, my bad, I'm forgetting that he's older than 18 at this point. It WOULD have been pretty easy to get him naturalized prior to 18 (assuming he was physically present in the States at some point).
Re: Re: Nationality Has he ever actually been in the States? It gets a little stickier if he's always been in Italy (even with American parents) You guys got me curious (DORK MOMENT) and now I'm looking at the INA. It's Section 322 for those that are curious.
Well, this is certainly intriguing. Especially, since the US U23 team (and for that matter, the 20s) have a bit of a question mark at right mid!