11/14/24
March 12, 2003
Under-17 team helped out by addition of... 13 year old?: I can't find the first piece I saw this in, but... is this kid for real? The other article said he was offered six figures by one of the european clubs when he was 11. That's nuts. C'mon... I know there are soccer nuts here. Give me the scoop :)
Erm, I meant, we covered Freddy here. I better get some sleep now.
posted by worldcup2002 at 11:32 PM on March 12, 2003
We Freddy here?! Yeah, you heard first right here at FreedomFilter!
posted by StarFucker at 12:39 AM on March 13, 2003
First I heard of him was here on SpoFi. He certainly looks like a brilliant young prospect. There's an article on him in USA Today which shows him celebrating his goal and mentions the Inter Milan story too. It also mentions a talented younger sibling, though the gender of young Fredua is not made clear. No doubt Freddy Adu could be a major player of the future. One can't but help sound a note of caution though. How many youngsters appear as blazing stars only to disappear into mediocrity and disappointment?
posted by squealy at 06:44 AM on March 13, 2003
Good article, squealy, and it does mention that Fredua is his younger brother. You never know, maybe someday we Fredua here.
posted by pfuller at 08:21 AM on March 13, 2003
Goal clip. Found over at Bigsoccer.com.
posted by trox at 08:49 AM on March 13, 2003
Didn't work for me. Me no Freddy there. Do I need a newer Quicktime?
posted by worldcup2002 at 09:18 AM on March 13, 2003
I wasn't able to see it either. Are you also using a mac worldcup?
posted by pfuller at 09:42 AM on March 13, 2003
No workie...
posted by StarFucker at 10:48 AM on March 13, 2003
"Windows Media Player cannot play the file because it is either damaged or corrupt." That's using the newest WMP with Win ME on a pc. Oh well, nice try trox.
posted by squealy at 10:57 AM on March 13, 2003
Sorry 'bout that. I recalled a number of clips last week, but that was the only one I could find.
posted by trox at 11:12 AM on March 13, 2003
No Freedom Fries for you!
posted by worldcup2002 at 11:23 AM on March 13, 2003
Do I get some Freedom Fries for finding a clip of Freddy waltzing 30 yards through the Guatemalan defence and hitting the bar with a fierce left-footed drive? If so, can I have them with gravy please? :-) It's on the left under the "Pre-Mundial Sub 17 - 3era Fecha" heading. Warning, you get a pop-up advert for pizza and have to watch a short advert before you see the action. Fingers crossed it works for you guys too.
posted by squealy at 11:49 AM on March 13, 2003
With a little clicking around at that link, you can see Freddy, one on four or five, scoring a sweet shot against Jamaica as well.
posted by trox at 12:49 PM on March 13, 2003
squealy gets the Freedom Fries! But only half a bag, because I had to feckin' install WMP 9, then watch it not work on Netscape 7. So I had to fire up old IE 5 and, surprise, it worked right off the bat. Do you work for MS? But damn! In squealy's link: Freddy fights with an opposing player to head the ball, as they move away from just outside the opposition penalty box. Freddy retrieves the ball and spins around, bumping into another opposing player who has run back to help out. He then bursts away, beating the first two opponents, then running around and between four other opponents, before unleashing a left-footed blast past the advancing keeper. Sadly, the ball bounces off the crossbar. And I think he got up to head the ball as it rebounded off the crossbar, too. With a little more maturity, he would have slowed his breakaway run, danced around the already floored keeper, and walked the ball into an empty net. I would've cried right here in my cube. He beat six players after running away from goal and then turning around. And he's 13. Damn!
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:02 PM on March 13, 2003
And trox gets the other half of the Freedom Fries. In trox's link: Freddy is one on one with the keeper, tries to go around the keeper's right, but the keeper gets his hands in the way and pops the ball behind Freddie. Freddie now has to run back out of the box, past onrushing opponents, to retrieve the ball. He gets the ball, turns around to advance to the box, and powers past one opponent, and then past three (who are unfortunately standing square, probably winded from running back to the box and stunned that Freddie, who was further from the ball than they were, now has it again) before coolly striking the ball into an open goal. I think the keeper had run away scared.
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:14 PM on March 13, 2003
And here's one from me: Above trox's Jamaica link is the El Salvador v US game, and there's a Freddy link there. In this link: The ball's lofted into the box and an opponent heads it way up in the air. The ball is dropping near the little D at the top of the box. Freddy, of course, is right there, sticks out a foot to control the ball, and it bounces a little awkwardly away from him. Since he has his back to goal, he decides to bloody bicycle-kick it from outside the box! And it's on target! But the goalie does well to save at full stretch to his right.
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:25 PM on March 13, 2003
Direct links, please- not sure how you're navigating to these vids. Trox's link never worked- it's the broken one; do you mean squealy's link? And my god, poor wc2k is gonna have a heart attack, it seems. :)
posted by hincandenza at 05:34 PM on March 13, 2003
The links are bloody convoluted and partial -- making it hard to just throw a link up here. It would probably be useless. Go to the site and noodle around. Suffer like the rest of us.
posted by worldcup2002 at 05:43 PM on March 13, 2003
FYI, you can just right click on the link and choose copy shortcut- it'll work as a link to the video pane directly. Here's the crossbar shot. Here's the Jamaican goal one. Here is the bicycle kick one.
posted by hincandenza at 05:56 PM on March 13, 2003
worldcup2002: repeat after me, "I, for one, welcome our bespectacled, billionaire, geek overlord"
posted by squealy at 06:44 PM on March 13, 2003
Here goes: "I, for one, ... ... am too busy shagging my many handmaidens to bother with bloody right-click and cut and fackin' paste, you Morlock! Bugger off and get back to your dungeon, you keyboard monkey!" Or perhaps I should have said, rather, urbanely: "Your technical talent is bedazzling. I'm as excited as a schoolgirl."
posted by worldcup2002 at 07:07 PM on March 13, 2003
Damn, don't tease me. If Freddy's development continues at the current pace, we may see him debut at World Cup 2006! (Pele played his first when he was 17, I think, and Michael Owen was 17 or 18 when he scored the wonder goal against Germany? Argentina? in the World Cup, too.) I sure would like to see that. Thanks for the link, squealy. I haven't even thought that far ahead. btw, how'd you do that? Hahahahahaha.
posted by worldcup2002 at 09:09 PM on March 13, 2003
That boy has mad skillz! Pele II!
posted by grum@work at 11:19 PM on March 13, 2003
I'm not even a soccer fan and that was tight.
posted by swank6 at 03:54 AM on March 14, 2003
That was nice... I wish the video was better quality. So where is he going to play do you guys think? MLS?
posted by StarFucker at 08:24 AM on March 14, 2003
I think he'll probably play a few years in MLS starting when he's about 16 (He's almost 14). After that, he'll be across the pond.
posted by trox at 08:29 AM on March 14, 2003
I hope they can keep him here. It's players like Adu that will make MLS a force to be reckoned with, against traditional US pro sports, and against the top Euro leagues. And if there are more like him, come 2006, watch out for the US!
posted by worldcup2002 at 10:05 AM on March 14, 2003
If he's that damn good ... let's get him in a baseball uniform!
posted by wfrazerjr at 10:06 AM on March 14, 2003
What's baseball?
posted by worldcup2002 at 10:07 AM on March 14, 2003
YES! Nice one worldcup! 
Lets call it freedomball...
posted by StarFucker at 10:34 AM on March 14, 2003
Damn! I much prefer the one where the girls are wearing the undershirts. Thank you.
posted by worldcup2002 at 11:32 AM on March 14, 2003
Posts today have been few and far between... Did everyone take the day off from work?!
posted by StarFucker at 02:42 PM on March 14, 2003
We Freddy here. Yes, he was offered $750K just to be a schoolboy trainee with Inter Milan, back when he was 11 or 12. And yes, everybody who works with him sez he's great. But nobody here has seen him play. One large Freedom Fries for the first person to post a video link here!