Adu in better place with Salt Lake
By: SIMON SAMANO - Staff Writer | ∞
TORRANCE ---- Long before David Beckham made Major League Soccer a topic of conversation at the water cooler, there was a 14-year-old prodigy named Freddy Adu, who carried on his back the weight of a league and a sport looking to gain acceptance into the mainstream of American sports.
Adu's footwork was uncanny, his potential infinite. In the eyes of many soccer gurus, he was the second coming of Pele, who Adu was paired with in a Pepsi commercial shortly after D.C. United made him the youngest professional athlete in American team sports history.
How could we forget Adu-mania?
As much of a stretch as it seemed, MLS was hopeful it would reach beyond the boundaries of soccer and into the minds of casual American sports fans, thus catapulting the league to prominence.
That was three years ago, though, and we now know that things didn't pan out the way MLS had envisioned, ultimately resulting in Adu's offseason trade to Real Salt Lake.
As Adu considers the circumstances, he realizes the importance of his performance in his fourth year as a professional.
"It is the biggest and most important season of my career. There's no excuses now, really," Adu said at the team's hotel before Saturday's game against host Chivas USA. "It's put up or shut up, that's what it is. I'm now in a situation where I have no pressure from anyone. I'm allowed to play my game. I'm allowed to be myself. That's huge, and that's very important to me. Now I'm just going to go out there and take more risks on the ball like I used to and be more offensive-minded."
Adu's offensive mentality was absent while playing under Peter Nowak in Washington, because he didn't have a choice. Besides the fact that Adu never regularly started games, Nowak employed a 3-5-2 formation, which forced Adu into more of a defensive role in the midfield. He was prohibited from being the attacking midfielder he naturally is, the position where he made observers' jaws drop as a 13-year-old with the U.S. under-17 national team.
Adu tried hard to fit in, but playing out of position took its toll. The result was detrimental.
"It got to a point where I was just playing and my confidence was low," Adu said. "I'll be honest with you. My confidence just wasn't there at some point in D.C."
Enter Real Salt Lake coach John Ellinger, Adu's U-17 mentor and maybe his savior. One conversation with Adu reveals that the reunion with Ellinger has already done wonders for his psyche.
"I don't have any worries at all right now," Adu said. "It's all just playing the sport and getting better and having fun again. That was the most important aspect of the game when I was playing with him for the U-17s. That's back again."
Ellinger, who uses Adu at left forward in his 4-4-3 formation, gives his attacking players in the final third the freedom to be aggressive. Whereas Adu's best qualities were repressed in D.C., Ellinger is allowing Adu to be himself again.
"I consider Freddy a creative player," Ellinger said. "I consider Landon Donovan a creative player; I consider Jeff Cunningham a creative player. Those guys feed off situations where they can make those attacking decisions."
With childhood almost behind him (he turns 18 on June 2), Adu holds a questionable status with the senior national team. Though he was brought in to the initial World Cup training camp, everyone ---- even Adu, he admits now ---- knew Bruce Arena wouldn't give him a fair shot at cracking the roster because of his age and status with D.C. United.
If Adu is to get serious consideration for senior national team duty, it hinges on success this season in MLS.
"You've just got to make it hard for the coach not to put you on the team," said Adu, who also has the option to play for Ghana's national team. "You can't just be put on the team because of your name and who you are. You've got to earn it."
And so, now, in this most pivotal season of his career, Adu fully understands the circumstances surrounding him. However unfair expectations were when he entered the league, he didn't live up to them, which has prompted many critics to say he'll never live up to the hype. But he's ready to prove all of them wrong.
"The hype that people set, that hype was just unbelievable," Adu said. "People's expectations were really just out there. But that's everybody else's opinion. I know what I'm doing day in and day out at practice to get to where I want to get to.
"When you see me playing out there, you'll see a different Freddy. You'll start seeing the player that you saw when I was with the 17s and even the 20s. I'm getting back to what got me to this point."
Contact staff writer Simon Samano at simon_samano@yahoo.com. Comment at nctimes.com.
No Wynne situation
Was it as much of a shock to you as it was to me that the New York Red Bulls traded away Poway High alumnus Marvell Wynne to Toronto FC? How do you ship a No. 1 overall pick, who you traded up to draft I might add, in only his second year?
Well, it was new coach Bruce Arena's decision to make the move, and the timing indicates that it may have been done to clear cap space for the recent acquisition of Columbian striker Juan Pablo Angel from Aston Villa.
Wynne possesses amazing athleticism. While it's true that he is a raw talent, there's a cure for that, you know. It's called coaching. Mo Johnston understands.
Local headers
< Stanford junior Rachel Buehler, a Torrey Pines High grad, is one of 32 players who is part of U.S. women's national team residency training camp at the Home Depot Center in Carson. Buehler is vying for a spot on the U.S. roster for the Women's World Cup, which begins Sept. 10 in China. Buehler has taken the quarter off from Stanford to attend residency camp, which runs through the end of August. Buehler was not part of the roster for the Americans' first international friendly, a 5-0 win over Mexico.
< Carlsbad High senior Morgan Saunders has signed a national letter of intent to play at Cal State Fullerton. Saunders, who is also a member of the San Diego Surf, was the cornerstone of first-year coach Demian Brown's recruiting class. "Morgan is the best athlete to come to Fullerton in quite some time," he said.
< The San Diego Sunwaves women's soccer team, which compete in the USL W-League, will have open tryouts from 6-8 p.m. on May 1 and May 3 at Hillsdale Middle School in El Cajon. The Sunwaves' roster includes Maribel Dominguez, the Mexican women's national team all-time leading scorer, and goalie Sophia Perez.
Tough draw for U.S.
The top-ranked United States got a tough draw Sunday for this year's women's World Cup, placed in Group B with Sweden, North Korea and Nigeria.
Sweden was runner-up at the 2003 World Cup and is ranked No. 4 by world governing body FIFA. North Korea is ranked No. 5, Asia's top team.
The United States, one of the four seeded teams this year, has won the World Cup twice ---- the inaugural tournament in 1991 and again in '99. Norway won in 1995 and Germany is the defending champion.
The Americans, who were knocked out in the semifinals by Germany in 2003, will open against North Korea on Sept. 11 in the western city of Chengdu.
---- Associated Press
The four Group B teams were also drawn together in the 2003 World Cup.
"We landed in the most difficult group again," American coach Greg Ryan said. "We had the most difficult group in 2003, and now the most difficult in 2007. It's hard to believe we drew exactly the same teams."
Germany was placed in Group A and fared better than the Americans, with preliminary matches against Japan, England and Argentina. The Germans play the first game of the World Cup against Argentina on Sept. 10 in Shanghai. The tournament closes on Sept. 30, also in Shanghai
In Group C, Norway was the seeded team and drew games with Ghana, Australia and Canada, while host China was seeded in Group D and will face New Zealand, Brazil and Denmark.
This women's World Cup promises to be the most competitive so far. In addition to the four seeded teams, Sweden and Brazil are seen as serious contenders. Several other teams are also in the mix: England, Japan, North Korea, Denmark, Australia and Nigeria.
Host China, ranked No. 11 in the world, might have received a break from FIFA. Prior to the draw, North Korea was placed in Group B by FIFA. The current positioning means China and North Korea cannot meet sooner than the semifinals.
FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi was asked four times about the move, but gave few answers in a news conference.
"The decision was taken by (FIFA) organizing committee," Linsi said.
Pressed, he simply replied: "I think if you make a draw, you don't ask the teams. That's the way it is."
Ryan said he was confused watching the draw and couldn't figure why North Korea was placed in Group B.
"I just don't understand it," he said. "I just don't understand."
Asked if he intended to lodge a protest with FIFA, Ryan shook his head.
"At this point it doesn't matter," he said. "What is done is done. We just have to start preparing for our first game."
For the first time in the women's World Cup, the total of $6.4 million in prize money will be spread among all teams. The winner will get $1 million. The tournament will be played at five venues. In addition to Shanghai, matches will be held in Wuhan, Chengdu, Tianjin and Hangzhou.
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