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Freddy Adu Biography
source: wikipedia.org

Fredua Koranteng "Freddy" Adu (born 2 June 1989 in Tema, Ghana) is a Ghanaian-American soccer striker and attacking midfielder. He most recently played for the United States U-20 national team and Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer, and is expected to now play for Portuguese side S.L. Benfica.

At the age of 14, Adu became the youngest American athlete in over 100 years to sign a major league pro contract - in any team sport - when he was chosen by DC United as the number one overall pick in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft, and won the MLS Cup title with them that year.

Prior to the 2007 MLS season, he was traded to Real Salt Lake, and was also captain of the U-20 United States men's national team in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. After the conclusion of that tournament, Benfica of the Portugal first division secured Adu's rights from MLS for a transfer fee of $2 million USD. As of 31 July, the transfer was pending final negotiations and a successful medical examination.

Childhood

Adu grew up in the port city of Tema in Ghana, Africa, where he played soccer against men three times his age. When he was eight, his mother won the Green Card Lottery, and he and his family moved to Washington, D.C., and in 2003 he became a U.S. citizen. Soon after arriving in the United States, he was discovered by a local soccer coach and began playing with boys several years older. Adu attended The Heights School for several years, a private school in Potomac, Maryland. While playing with the U.S. Olympic Development Program in an under-14 tournament against the youth squads of such traditionally strong Italian teams as Lazio of Rome and Turin’s Juventus, Freddy’s team won the competition and he led the tournament in scoring and was named MVP. Adu was noticed by Italian soccer clubs, including Inter Milan, who discussed a six-figure offer for him that was turned down by his mother on the advice of his agents.

At age 12 in January, 2002, Adu joined the IMG Soccer Academy, U.S. Soccer's full-time residency program in Bradenton, Florida. He made his professional debut in Major League Soccer in early 2004, at just 14 years of age, and now plays for the United States Under-20 national team.

Adu has played for the United States in four international tournaments: the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland, the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates, the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada.

[edit] Professional career

In order to allow Adu to play close to home, MLS assigned him to D.C. United on 18 November 2003, working a deal with the Dallas Burn, who owned the top pick in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. Dallas was compensated with a player allocation. Having already signed with D.C. United, Adu effectively became the first player selected in that draft, two months before it officially took place. D.C. United had previously signed American youngsters Bobby Convey in 2000, aged 16, and Santino Quaranta in 2001 at 16 years and four months — each at the time the youngest MLS player.

On 3 April, Adu came on in United's first game of the 2004 season against the San Jose Earthquakes as a second-half substitute, making him the youngest player to appear in United States professional sports since 1887 (the next youngest was fifteen-year-old Joe Nuxhall, who played Major League Baseball in Cincinnati in 1944). On 17 April, at the age of 14, Adu scored his first professional goal in the 75th minute of a 3-2 away loss against the MetroStars. He became the youngest player in MLS History ever to score a goal (although he had also scored for DC United in an earlier tournament, the Carolina Challenge Cup, on March 20 against the Charleston Battery).

In his first season as a pro, Adu finished the year with five goals and three assists, while playing in all 30 regular season games. Although briefly a starter, Adu was relegated to a substitute when D.C. United acquired central midfielder Christian Gómez mid-season, and it was in this role that he appeared in United's MLS Cup victory. He played in three of DC's four playoff games, coming off the bench each time; he tallied one assist in the postseason.

Adu was criticized from a number of different angles in his first season as a professional. Some soccer commentators have suggested that Adu was too young to be playing professionally and that he needed more time to develop mentally and physically amongst players his own age. In his second season, he was suspended for one game after he complained about his playing time in the media. However, his first two years in MLS were also punctuated by notable accomplishments, including being awarded player of the week and goal of the week multiple times. Continued development, especially of his defensive skills, helped Adu become a starting midfielder during the 2006 season. In addition, Adu had been chosen to take spot kicks during DC United's two penalty shootouts and did not miss. He has been selected to the MLS All-Star team twice, once as a commissioner's choice and once as the coach's. He was selected to the MLS 2006 semifinals Best XI by SoccerAmerica magazine. In 2005 he was nominated for FIFPRO Young player of the year

On 11 December 2006, D.C. United traded Adu and goalkeeper Nick Rimando to Real Salt Lake in exchange for a major allocation, goalkeeper Jay Nolly, and future considerations. Adu made his debut for Real Salt Lake on 7 April 2007, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw with FC Dallas. He scored his first goal for the club on 20 May 2007, converting a penalty kick in the 68th minute of a 2-1 loss to FC Dallas. Adu went on to score his second goal with Salt Lake from another penalty in a 1-1 draw against Boca Juniors.

On 28 July 2007 Adu opted out of playing for Real in their regular-season match, and later that day, boarded a plane to Portugal to negotiate with Benfica. On Monday, 30 July, Benfica issued an official statement announcing that Adu had been transferred to their club for a fee of $2 million USD that had been previously agreed upon, and that the transfer would be complete upon final negotiations and a full medical examination.

International career

Adu was added to the (senior) United States roster by coach Bruce Arena in January 2006. On 22 January, Adu became the youngest player to debut with the (senior) USMNT, when he replaced an injured Eddie Johnson in the 81st minute of a friendly against Canada in San Diego, California.

In January 2007, Adu captained the United States U-20 national team as it qualified for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada. He finished the qualifying tournament with 2 goals and an assist, all of which were scored in the final game against Panama.

By then playing in the 2007 tournament finals, held from June to July, Adu became only the second player in the world to play in three FIFA u-20 World Cups.

On 3 July 2007 Adu scored a hat trick in USA's 6-1 victory over Poland in the group stage of the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. This accomplishment made him the first player to ever score a hat trick in both the U-17 and U-20 World Cups. In the following 2-1 victory over Brazil, Adu assisted on both USA goals by Jozy Altidore.

Personal life

Adu dated American pop/R&B singer JoJo from May 2005 until September 2006. A Washington Post article in November 2006 reported that the couple split after one year. Jojo mentioned on American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest that she and Adu were still good friends. Adu is also sponsored by Nike Total 90. Freddy's younger brother is also a soccer player. Fro Adu has agreed to join George Mason University for the upcoming college season.

Career statistics

Year	Club	Games (+sub)	Goals	Assists
2004	D.C. United	14 (16)	5	3
2005	D.C. United	19 (9)	4	6
2006	D.C. United	29 (3)	2	8
2007	Real Salt Lake	10 (1)	1	2
2007-	S.L. Benfica	-	-	-
Totals		69 (29)	12	19