4.09.2008
Is Adu Already a Forgotten Pop Cultural Footnote?
So a few days ago I was on some other sh*t about how US fans of the beautiful game rarely get to see much of their country men playing abroad outside of the EPL. Even one of the "biggest" US soccer stars ever, Freddy Adu, is playing in something close to a Witness Protection League. That is when he plays.
If you're an astute fan who is glued to his broadband service you may know that The Biggest Midget in the Game hasn't seen the field in Portugal in a while. Hell, he hasn't even dressed for the past 2 matches. He's not injured and has been in great form for the Olympic team. As Talking to the Doll puts it, "how can Benfica afford to leave out a player that in 305 minutes has scored 5 goals?"
I don't claim to know the answer and won't make an ass of myself by regaling you with a load of supposition based on nothing. The thing that I'm trying to get to is this: are Freddy's 15 minutes up already? Not with the soccer fanatic, but with the general populace. As the Bernie Mack clip so elegantly points out, he may have drifted into "that black kid in the socks they put on that pro soccer team" territory.
Think about it for a minute and you begin to realize that in the past year --a few national team appearances aside-- his stateside profile has become as low as a the Unibomber's. When was the last time you saw him in a Sierra Mist or Campbell's Soup commercial? Where is all that $1 million Nike contract love? And it's been a hella long time since I've seen him downstairs in the halls of the TRL studio.
I had a footie convo with a guy on the bus the other day. After about 20 solid minutes of Becham-centric MLS talk he said to me "What ever happened to that Eddy Abu kid? Does he still play?" It's kinda lame to me. As much as I've given him (and Landon) stick, I do like the guy and wish him nothing but success...particularly in a US uniform. I guess it's just sad to see how quickly one of our biggest stars can be eclipsed. Or even worse, fall from the sky completely.
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7 comments:
I'm confused as well. Adu is a great player and should be seeing more matchtime somewhere..anywhere really.
are Freddy's 15 minutes up already? Not with the soccer fanatic, but with the general populace.
I care about the continued improvement of the USMNT. Freddy could impact this and so I'm interested in Freddy's soccer. I could care fuckall about him being included in song lyrics, selling soda or being on TRL.
To answer your question above...who cares?
They're remember him come world cup. You never would hear about Mia Hamm until it was cup time, or any other soccer players. That's just soccer in America. It's not like when Adu played for DC that he was all that great. He's played really well for the USMNT though, that's for sure. I think he still has potential.
Who cares? I do. Without recognizable players the game will never progress to a point where it's anything close to mainstream. I'd like it to get to the point where I don't have to have all of my conversations about it online.
All of us Benfica fans are baffled why Freddy as suddenly disappeared from game rosters. I have thought long and hard to find an explanation, and frankly, i just don't have one.
Perhaps you can blame it on the rigors of European soccer and how level the playing field is for everyone, in the sense that you have to come in and work as hard as the next guy, and i'm not saying that Freddy is not working hard, what i'm saying is that everyone works hard to make the team.
I think, what many people forget is that Freddy is still 18, at 18 there aren't many players that have matured enough to be starting on a major team. If you ask me, and many of you have probably noticed, Freddy has improved a great deal since joining Benfica. He dominated the Olympic Qualifying tourney, and will continue to improve throughout his stay in Europe, regardless of what club he is at. The very essence of what he is going through right now(lack of playing time) lies on how he can handle it. While at DCU he had problems with Nowak, mostly because of lack of playing time, at Benfica Freddy is learning lessons that will make him a better player, and a better professional.
His time will come, and i expect him to be fighting for a starting spot next year, as he will no longer be the new guy, in a different country, in a different style of soccer..
Cheers.
Who knows? The again, why does Dempsey ride the pine at Fulham when he was their only dangerous looking player for most of the season?
As for his 15 mins, I think someone hit pause on the stopwatch for now. When he performs at a World Cup, and makes a move to a "larger" club, one whose games are easier to follow in the states, he'll be big again.
As for why he's not dressing/playing have you looked at the standings? Benfica is tied with Guimaraes with Sporting 2 points back for second place. Second place means auto Champions League group stage with all the money that comes with six guaranteed games v. qualifying. Right now I'm sure they're just trotting out all the experience they can to wrap up that second spot. Don't worry, Adu will probably get spot minutes if they lock up second, and will be able to compete for a spot next year.
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