Turning down offers from major international soccer clubs, 14 yr. old Freddy Adusigned a deal with the American Major League Soccer team D.C. United, in a deal that will reportedly make him the highest paid player in the league. Apparently, he will be the youngest professional athlete in more than a century.
Now, the only question is whether he will end up as the superstar that will turn Americans on to soccer, or whether he'll end up a spectacular burnout. The ESPN story said that his family turned down a deal to play for an Italian team when he was 11, because they wanted him to have a childhood. Playing professionally at 14 doesn't seem like much of a childhood either, but I guess when you are as good as he is, there isn't really any other direction to go to get the challenge to improve.
What I do want to know is why the people who have fits about highschoolers going to the NBA aren't having a fit about Adu playing professionally. Sure, MLS isn't nearly the profile of the NBA, but putting a 14 year old, even one who will have finished highschool, into the world of professional sports can't be that different than Lebron going into the NBA. Actually, Adu has the potential to be even bigger than Lebron, because even though soccer isn't that big here, it's the biggest sport everywhere else on the planet. To have teams like Manchester United interested in you is even bigger than Kobe going to the Lakers, and my guess is that as soon as Adu is old enough to sign with a European club, he will.
Posted by kathryn at Noviembre 18, 2003 03:37 PM | TrackBackQuote: "Now, the only question is whether he will end up as the superstar that will turn Americans on to soccer, or whether he'll end up a spectacular burnout."
Well, hey, I love soccer, so I wish it'd be the first, but I'm afraid thats not too likely (if Pele didn't manage to turn Americans onto to soccer with his play in the seventies for the Cosmos...). I'm hoping, then, that you've presented a false dichotomy, because Adu has some fantastic potential from the video I've seen.
Posted by: rob at Noviembre 18, 2003 05:37 PMYeah, I've probably created a false dichotomy. I think that the climate for soccer is a lot better today than it was back in the 1970s--when the US knocked off Portugal in the last World Cup, that was all that they were talking about on sports radio here.
Then again, who knows. It may just be wishful thinking on my part (how many people do you know who's parents still have the commemorative Pepsi bottle from when the Tampa Bay Rowdies won the championship in that 1970s league?).
Posted by: kathryn at Noviembre 18, 2003 07:16 PMDang, I'm almost more impressed by the fact that he'll finish high school at 15. I hope he brings more interest to soccer in the US, cause Covenant could use the assistance.
Posted by: tim at Noviembre 19, 2003 06:40 PMI'm not so sure I'm as impressed as I would be if he wasn't an athlete attending one of those schools that cater to athletes. He probably had a program specifically tailored to his needs.
Posted by: kathryn at Noviembre 20, 2003 05:09 PM