If you were still before your 26th birthday:
Played for your country's national youth team at all levels, been the captain of that team and led it to one of the best results in the country's history;
Played almost 20 games for the men's national team;
One of the most famous representatives of your country and earned millions of dollars.
Without a doubt, you should be celebrating and considered successful in your field. Unless your name is Freddy Adu. Then you are the biggest disappointment in American soccer and a player who is now talked about only for his activities in nightclubs, not his achievements on the soccer field.
As a teenager, he was considered the savior of American soccer, and his excellent performances were always highlighted by the entire country's media. At just fourteen, he was drafted first overall in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft and became the youngest professional athlete in American sports history. However, after twelve years, Adu does not play in the world's most powerful leagues, does not represent the national team, and has become forgotten by the majority of experts who admired the talented player in his youth. The most important rising question - what happened to him?
"My family was truly poor. My mom worked two to three jobs to support me and my brother. So if Nike came to you and offered you a million-dollar contract and the MLS wanted to make you the highest-paid player when you're just fourteen, you wouldn't refuse. You just can't do that. I agreed to everything that was asked of me, so I had to do numerous appearances, ads, and interviews. All of that took away a lot of my time that I would have spent on the field. People just saw me as a marketing tool.", - the player told BBC a few years ago.
In his first three years with "D.C. United," he wasn't bad, and during that time, he managed to play 88 games and score 11 goals. At sixteen, he participated in a trial with "Manchester United," where the American drew the attention of the legendary Pele.
After another, not very successful, years, Adu decided to try his luck abroad. Although not receiving as much attention as he hoped, the player born in Ghana moved to Portugal's "Benfica" for one and a half million euros. That same summer, the team was also joined by players such as Angel Di Maria, David Luiz, and Fabio Coentrao. By the way, the latter two combined cost less than the American.
It cannot be said that "Benfica" did not give the attacking player his opportunities - Adu appeared in both Portuguese and Champions League matches, but unlike the players who joined the club that summer, he failed to shine and prove his worth.
"I think he just didn't understand what it means to get into the dressing room with high-level, motivated, and older players and how to withstand the competition. There is simply a fight to the last drop of blood, and you can imagine how those players felt when a player who has achieved nothing arrives and earns more than they do," - said the US U-20 coach Thomas Rongen at the time.
From that moment on, his career began to decline sharply. Initially, "Benfica" loaned him to the "Monaco" club. After an unsuccessful performance there, he was sent to the Portuguese "Belenenses" team. Unable to establish himself there - he was loaned to the Greek "Aris" team. After another unimpressive period in Greece, the player was loaned to the second division in Turkey, and not managing to show good gameplay there, he was simply released.
In 2011, Adu returned to America. He was given a chance by the "Philadelphia Union" team. During two seasons there, he remembered the taste of goals, scoring 10 goals and even returned to the US national team, where he was given a chance to travel to the 2011 "Gold Coast" tournament. The player was given the opportunity to play in the tournament final, where the US lost 2 – 4 to Mexico, and Adu scored an assist.
After these two seasons, the American decided to try his luck overseas once again, but this time not in Europe - the player traveled to Pele's homeland Brazil, where he signed a contract with the "Bahia" club. Although it was expected that Adu's game would be more suitable for Brazilian football and he would be able to shine there, he faced another disappointment - just four matches and another season, after which the team no longer needed his services.
Adu's further career was even more depressing. Failed trials, just one half-year of play in Serbia, and ultimately a lackluster performance in the second Finnish league. After the period in Finland, the player was ready to end his football career and dedicate more time to the nightclub business.
"I think that his thoughts in life: 'how can I be the best player I can be’ was never the top priority, and that affected his career. After all, he is young enough to be a good player and have a long and meaningful career," - said former US U-17 and "Philadelphia Union" assistant coach John Hackworth, who worked with Adu in two different periods of his career.
Lazy in training and unmotivated on the field. A player described like this cannot achieve good results no matter how talented he may be. The situation is not improved by the fact that instead of training in adolescence, more time is spent in front of cameras than with a soccer ball. And the best example of this is Freddy Adu. This is a very painful example for American soccer fans, but it is instructive and it is doubtful that such media and public attention will ever be shown to such a young player again. To truly nurture the new Pele in their country, America is determined not to repeat its mistakes.
By the way, despite everything, Adu is still continuing his career. He plays in the second most powerful league in America - the NASL. Another chance to return to glory? Such an article about the player was already in the US media. It appeared in January 2010 when the player was just 20 years old...
Tautvydas Sakalauskas
