Where's Freddie?

[Cujo]

Last time I checked Greece is ranked #12 in the world, they won the Euro 2004. US at the moment is ranked 14 in the world. Beantown, NH is not really the center of world football. Get it?

Adu has plenty of individual ball skills, but he needs to mature mentally to play the professional team game. He just might be underaged mistakenly.

He is an average player in an average league. In MLS he is slightly above average in a below average league.

Listen. I was just as excited as everyone else about his status as a prodigy, his family's story, and the prospects of a US developed soccer phenom that would elevate the status of US soccer on an international level. But it was a charade, a PT Barnum act, a willful fraud on his part and his mother's part. Everyone bought into the story because it was the kind that the media loves. The evidence is overwhelming that he is anywhere from 3-5 years older than advertised. He basically sold his athletic soul for short term glory. If at age 15 to 17 he had been playing with his peers he may still have drawn enough attention to play at a high level but as a 15 year old playing with immature children it was almost guaranteed. We were all duped. But as GDubya said - "Fool me twice and I am you....." or something like that.....

[Unregistered]

He is an average player in an average league. In MLS he is slightly above average in a below average league.

Listen. I was just as excited as everyone else about his status as a prodigy, his family's story, and the prospects of a US developed soccer phenom that would elevate the status of US soccer on an international level. But it was a charade, a PT Barnum act, a willful fraud on his part and his mother's part. Everyone bought into the story because it was the kind that the media loves. The evidence is overwhelming that he is anywhere from 3-5 years older than advertised. He basically sold his athletic soul for short term glory. If at age 15 to 17 he had been playing with his peers he may still have drawn enough attention to play at a high level but as a 15 year old playing with immature children it was almost guaranteed. We were all duped. But as GDubya said - "Fool me twice and I am you....." or something like that.....

Maybe your title should say SENIOR CITIZEN instead senior member

[Cujo]

Maybe your title should say SENIOR CITIZEN instead senior member

Still 15 years away from that milestone.

[Unregistered]

It is the equivalent of playing minor league ball in Fargo. The only reason he drew any attention was due to the fact that he was a 16 year old playing against u10's.

Check out the story that just hit the news last night. The Texas HS basketball team that won the State Title had a 22 year old on the team. He already had played 4 years of HS ball in Fla (?). As an immigrant from a poor country (Haiti) his birth documentation was shakey. Same story with Adu. Why some people cannot get this through their heads and the implications that it had in terms of the notoriety that brought national attention to him.

He is an average player when playing with his peers. That is not a bad thing but at the heart of things his iconic status as a teenager was a fraud.

I Hate to agree with him but Cuj is right

[Unregistered]

He is an average player in an average league. In MLS he is slightly above average in a below average league.

Listen. I was just as excited as everyone else about his status as a prodigy, his family's story, and the prospects of a US developed soccer phenom that would elevate the status of US soccer on an international level. But it was a charade, a PT Barnum act, a willful fraud on his part and his mother's part. Everyone bought into the story because it was the kind that the media loves. The evidence is overwhelming that he is anywhere from 3-5 years older than advertised. He basically sold his athletic soul for short term glory. If at age 15 to 17 he had been playing with his peers he may still have drawn enough attention to play at a high level but as a 15 year old playing with immature children it was almost guaranteed. We were all duped. But as GDubya said - "Fool me twice and I am you....." or something like that.....

MLS putting him on when he's 14 was pure marketing crap. That hindered his development as a soccer player, one may say. He could be overaged or not doesn't seem to be such a big deal to me. Even if he was 18 not 14, he's playing people in their 20s and 30s. Didn't see you on your soap box crying unfair at the time. The interesting thing he showed is in soccer individual skill is not everything, you need to understand team tactics to be able to play at the highest level.

[Unregistered]

I agree with Cujo on this expect for the age thing. That has become too easy of a target. It is possible the he just developed early. At 14 he was physically mature, but he talked and sounded like a 14 year old emotionally and in terms of cognitive development. I've seen a number of white kids in MA from regular to affluent backgrounds who were fully grown or almost fully grown by 13 or 14 and who were among the best players in the state at that age. Most of those same players have faded "down the stretch".....perhaps still good, solid players, but not dominant or Region 1 ODP material like they were before. There are pictures of Adu from age 7 or 8, right? And he looked 8.

[Unregistered]

I agree with Cujo on this expect for the age thing. That has become too easy of a target. It is possible the he just developed early. At 14 he was physically mature, but he talked and sounded like a 14 year old emotionally and in terms of cognitive development. I've seen a number of white kids in MA from regular to affluent backgrounds who were fully grown or almost fully grown by 13 or 14 and who were among the best players in the state at that age. Most of those same players have faded "down the stretch".....perhaps still good, solid players, but not dominant or Region 1 ODP material like they were before. There are pictures of Adu from age 7 or 8, right? And he looked 8.

He faked his BC, which is becoming an increasingly common practice in youth soccer. Look at U12 and U13 ODP for examples.

[Unregistered]

He faked his BC, which is becoming an increasingly common practice in youth soccer. Look at U12 and U13 ODP for examples.

Did you read the post??? This is an idiotic response. He faked the "BC" at age 8 or did he fake it at age 13? Are you telling me an 8 year old (who you're saying must have been really 12 or 13 even though he didn't look it) was savvy and psychopathic enough to be thinking about his endorsements? Please think before you post.

[Unregistered]

age cheating is a common practice amongst african nations
http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/ag...rican-football

[Unregistered]

Cujo, can you have your daily dose of pills first before starting bashing here? Or at least check the wiki first.

"Fredua Koranteng "Freddy" Adu (born June 2, 1989) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Aris Thessaloniki in the Greek Super League, on loan from Benfica."


The team finished 5th in 09-10 season. Eddy Johnson is playing for the same team and got selected for US 30-man list.

I do not think Eddy Johnson will be on the final 23 roster.

Freddy, regardless of his age should have stayed in youth soccer here or in Europe. Joining MLS at such a young age was just a complete disaster. Very limited playing time doesn't lend to building the soccer brain.

[Unregistered]

.

Freddy, regardless of his age should have stayed in youth soccer here or in Europe. Joining MLS at such a young age was just a complete disaster. Very limited playing time doesn't lend to building the soccer brain.

Remember that the next time some coach says "Development happens in practice, not in games"!

[Cujo]

Did you read the post??? This is an idiotic response. He faked the "BC" at age 8 or did he fake it at age 13? Are you telling me an 8 year old (who you're saying must have been really 12 or 13 even though he didn't look it) was savvy and psychopathic enough to be thinking about his endorsements? Please think before you post.

His mother faked it. How many times do people need to be told that in many African countries there is no formal birth certificate, especially for rural folks. For example, when you get a passport to leave Nigeria you declare your name and your date of birth because few rural citizens HAVE birth certificates. This is how Nigerians also have multiple identities when they come to the US. You can get a new name and DOB everytime you leave the country. At the company I used to work at - I was involved in a credit card theft ring in which the 4 individuals running the ring had at least 6 individual identities. They used these documents, to get multiple licenses, welfare benefits. One of the guys in the ring had a half dozen welfare check in his possession, all with different names.

Sometimes I just can get my arms around how naive and uninformed some people are.

[Unregistered]

His mother faked it. How many times do people need to be told that in many African countries there is no formal birth certificate, especially for rural folks. For example, when you get a passport to leave Nigeria you declare your name and your date of birth because few rural citizens HAVE birth certificates. This is how Nigerians also have multiple identities when they come to the US. You can get a new name and DOB everytime you leave the country. At the company I used to work at - I was involved in a credit card theft ring in which the 4 individuals running the ring had at least 6 individual identities. They used these documents, to get multiple licenses, welfare benefits. One of the guys in the ring had a half dozen welfare check in his possession, all with different names.

Sometimes I just can get my arms around how naive and uninformed some people are.

Cujo, I'm actually surprised at you on this one. The fact that it happens does not by definition mean that it happened in this case.

What would be the mother's intent to grossly underestimate the age even before she had any idea about his talent? Why does he look 7 or 8 when he supposedly was 7 or 8? Why did he look 14 when he supposedly was 14? You didn't see the DC United players treating him like he was really 17 or 18. They interacted with him like he was 14.

[Unregistered]

Cujo, I'm actually surprised at you on this one. The fact that it happens does not by definition mean that it happened in this case.

What would be the mother's intent to grossly underestimate the age even before she had any idea about his talent? Why does he look 7 or 8 when he supposedly was 7 or 8? Why did he look 14 when he supposedly was 14? You didn't see the DC United players treating him like he was really 17 or 18. They interacted with him like he was 14.

"African teams do very well at the U-17 World Cup. Nigeria has won three times since 1985 and Adu’s native Ghana twice. They don’t replicate the success at senior level. This is because many teams use overage payers. After FIFA introduced bone-scans this season, fifteen Nigerian players were booted from the U-17 squad, for being too old."

FIFTEEN players got booted. That number is staggering and makes Cujo's point. What else could explain the wunderkid letting everyone else "his age" catch up to him??

[Unregistered]

The incorrect birth certificate theory is believable IMHO. Since the press built us his story, I don't think they'll admit they were duped unless there is proof.

An early maturation process is also believable. In my youth (middle school) basketball days, there was a 6'2" kid who towered over us and dominated. In HS, he was still 6'2" and never made an impact because he always played center in his youth - he didn't have any guard or forward type skills.