Much Adu About Nothing

With a group of mostly domestic based players participating in the United States’ training camp this month, the one player that is being talked about the most is 16-year-old Freddy Adu. Newspapers around the country have run stories about Adu’s participation in the training camp and have almost eagerly proclaimed his chances of making the World Cup team.

The media in the US loves to hype superstars even when it has no clue about the sport in which they play. Adu is a bright talent and someday he might even measure up to the expectations that have been thrust upon him by the soccer powers in the US.

But he isn’t going to make the team, nor should he.

Simply put, he is not talented enough at this point to deserve a spot on the roster. Says coach Bruce Arena in the NY Times:

“Our expectations for Freddy are not great. It’s just good to get him in here and give him a feel of what this is about with the national team and see where he is and compare him with others.”

Translation: Freddy isn’t good enough yet and we hope that by having his butt kicked every day in practice he will stop listening to the pundits who tell him how good he is and he will get to work to actually realize his potential.