The Adu we know and love

#Photo Credit - Doug Benc - Getty Images.

Freddy Adu put the US on top against Cuba in the 13th minute and had a ball returned by the crossbar 13 seconds into the game. Freddy's goal wasn't enough as the US let Cuba tie the game after a defensive breakdown, the game finished 1-1.


Click on the link below to read a detailed Adu performance ticker, courtesy of one of our readers, Nick Giffen.


just to recap Freddy's performance

43 seconds in...hits the post with a beautiful curling left footed shot.

1 minute 15 seconds in, takes a corner and it is cleared out back to him, he beats a defender with a beautiful Cruyff cutback move and sends a cross in that one of the US players misses.

7 minutes in, Adu passes to set up Jozy Altidore for a 1v1, but Altidore hits his shot right at the goalkeeper

8th minute - Adu hits a 25 yard strike that forces the goalkeeper to parry wide for a corner.

13 minutes in Freddy plays a corner short to Robbie Findley, and Findley plays it back to Adu. Adu plays a swinging ball in, and it creates confusion as it looked to be a cross, but nobody touched it and it bounced into the net.

28th minute - Adu takes a swerving freekick from 22 yards out that forces the goalkeeper to punch over the bar.

52nd minute - Adu has a ball laid off for him right at the top of the box, and he hammers a left footed drive low and inches wide.

53rd minute - A minute later, Adu sends teammate Robbie Findley clear through for a 1v1 breakaway, but Findley's first touch is a poor shot right at the goalkeeper.

About 65th minute - Adu on the right side of the box, rounds his defender and looks like he may be in on goal, but he is called for a foul that never actually existed...bad call by the ref.

About 88th minute - Adu takes a freekick from the top right side of the box. Swerves over the wall, dips down, and misses by half a foot.


All in all, Freddy was a level and a half above everyone else on the pitch tonight for both teams. All Benfiquistas should be proud of his play tonight. He will be a capable fill-in for Rui Costa. However, there will be growing pains, but he has shown he can absolutely DOMINATE in his age group, so as he gets more experience, age, and skill...he could be a special one for Benfica!

Thanks Nick

Link to ussoccer.com article about the game

Freddy's quotes after the game (from ussoccer.com)


On not getting the win:
“First off, when you go into the game, you go into the game with the same mentality. Whether you’re the underdog or not, you just go into the game, prepare for it. It’s 0-0 when the game starts and today I felt like we had a lot of chances. We were a bit unlucky. I think we’re going to go back to the drawing board and just rebound.”

On the team possibly slowing down after the first goal:
“Peter hit everything on the spot. It’s tough. He did tell us we have to keep playing the same way we’re playing. It just felt like maybe, maybe, we took our foot off the pedal a little bit. But, then again, that’s something you learn from, and you know, come back the next game and keep going. Because if you relax just a little bit, when everyone’s all over the place, that’s when the other team starts going and getting chances.
Next game we’ll do a much better job of being compact and being harder to penetrate and play against.”

On the play that led to the goal:
“That corner kick we’ve practiced; we talk about it – yesterday obviously – and we talked about when the right time was to do it in a game. It was the right time to do it and you always want to hit those on goal. On goal in this case, no one touched it so it’s a goal and that’s what happened today. Charlie Davies, I give all credit to him, he made a great dummy, and the ball went in the back of the net. It’s all a team, and we were able to execute it so that was good.”

On the free kick towards the end of the game:
“As far as the free kick goes, when the ball is on the right side like that, usually a lefty hits it. So, we talked about it, and I asked Dax [McCarty], if he wanted to hit it and he said, ‘nah, you should hit it.’
Obviously I wanted to hit it, so whoever’s feeling it at that time, is the one that hits it.”

On frustration for missing chances:
“Obviously, it does get a little frustrating, but that’s soccer. You’re going to hit some on target, some of them are going to go off target. You just rebound, you know, that plays over, and you think about the next play and you just move on. That’s what happens. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t. That’s the way game goes. As a professional, you can’t worry about it, you just move on and keep playing for the next play.”