Experience needed
Adu needs playing time in order to develop
CENTURION, South Africa – With the hype largely behind him, Freddy Adu is being told he needs to start playing regularly with a club in order to gain a key role with the U.S. national team.
Two seasons in Europe as a fringe player with Benfica and Monaco has dampened much of the fervor that greeted Adu when he signed with D.C. United as a 14-year-old in 2003.
“More than anything right now, he needs to play games,” U.S. forward Landon Donovan said. “On the field is the best way to learn. As far as the maturation off the field goes, that is also a big part of it, too, and I think he’s starting to learn that and figure that out.
“From my experience, that was hard for me to learn and I’m still learning. It took a while for me to figure out what that means. Freddy is in the midst of that, but as a starting point he knows he needs to get on the field and play games.”
Adu played just 169 minutes over 10 matches on loan at Monaco this past season and is set to return to Portuguese club Benfica, which paid Major League Soccer $2 million for him in 2007.
Even so, his one goal in 13 international matches would be more than respectable for most young forwards, who rarely play at club level.
But his immigrant background and precocious talent long since led sponsors and agents to see him as a perfect marketing figure and trumpet him as the United States’ first true soccer superstar.
At 14, Adu’s impending stardom was alluded to by his appearance alongside Pele in a soft drink commercial, and he soon became the youngest player and scorer in MLS.
But the anticipation generated among many fans was so great that Adu’s failure to match the likes of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo always was going to be judged harshly.
His difficult spell in Europe has helped reset those expectations, and United States coach Bob Bradley is just happy for Adu to keep up his soccer education at the Confederations Cup.
“I think that sometimes when so much is said and written from the beginning, it creates unrealistic expectations of a young player,” Bradley said. “Obviously, the fact that we call him in is an indication that we still see talent and the hope is that he can continue to move himself along.”