[speedball]

Any soccer/football fans out there?
Does anyone remember when little freddy went pro at just 14?

Well, no more Freddy for MLS. He's been transferred to Benfica, a Portuguese team. He's supposed to be such a huge talent, but he seemed to be more or less under the radar when he was in the MLS. (granted he was still a teenager) He played very well during the U-20 world cup though, and supposedly that's when the European scouts really took notice.
Anyway, just wondering if anyone else noticed this and what they thought...

 

[rlanger]

Methinks the title of your thread should be "Bidding Adieu to Adu."

BTW, love the link in your sig. That has to be THE most mispelled word on the intwerwebs.

 

[subfocus]

He was pretty high profile in the UK press for a while and there was considerable interest from Manchester United and Chelsea if I remember rightly. I hope he does well at Benfica , as so many of these kids that are highlited as potential worldclass players ,at a very early age , end up not fulfilling their considerable potential. I think the weight of expectation is just too much for many. Good luck to him , I hope he has success at Benfica .

 

[speedball]

wow, much better title ... changed it for ya


Quote:

BTW, love the link in your sig. That has to be THE most mispelled word on the intwerwebs.

haha thanks
Yeah, I think it's some kind of cursed word. Even people who rarely misspell anything get tripped up by that one. It's weird - all you have to do is take definite and then add -ly. Meh, I've done all I can.


Quote:

He was pretty high profile in the UK press for a while and there was considerable interest from Manchester United and Chelsea if I remember rightly.

I had heard that some UK teams were interested, any idea what drove them off?

 

[arnoldsoccer4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedball /img/forum/go_quote.gif I had heard that some UK teams were interested, any idea what drove them off?

Yes, his mother. She did not want him leaving the states in his early teens. The family came over here from Ghana after I think winning what was referred to as a green card lottery. (I don't know what it is, it was in Sports Illustrated) But he was getting offers to move out at 12 and his mom would have none of it, now that he is older I guess she is letting go a little.

 

[subfocus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by arnoldsoccer4 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, his mother. She did not want him leaving the states in his early teens. The family came over here from Ghana after I think winning what was referred to as a green card lottery. (I don't know what it is, it was in Sports Illustrated) But he was getting offers to move out at 12 and his mom would have none of it, now that he is older I guess she is letting go a little.

Good on her...... he's probably going to get more first-team football at Benfica anyway and they've got a great European footballing pedigree.

 

[kerelybonto]

Living in DC, I've got to watch Freddy play for United numerous time. He didn't get a whole lot of minutes, really, but there are some moments to remember. I'll be interested in seeing how he does in Europe. The level of competition in MLS is not consistently very high, and Adu's never played internationally against men. He's skilled and very quick, but he's pretty small and doesn't have much quality experience yet.

Jozy Altidore, who plays for the Red Bulls, seems to me to be likelier to be a legit star at some point in the European leagues or at least on the international squad. He's about half a year younger than Adu, and the kid just knows how to put the ball in the net. I was at last fall's playoff match between United and the Red Bulls here in DC, in which Altidore scored, and it was clear that he's going to be something special. He also led the American U-20 team in scoring this year (though Freddy still had the best goal.)