Freddy Adu waited two years between professional goals before snapping his drought last Sunday.
His next wait lasted just three days.
Adu scored his second goal in as many matches for Greek club Aris FC on Wednesday, netting the second goal in Aris' 3-0 Greek Cup quarterfinal second-leg victory against Skoda Xanthi. The win came after a 1-1 draw in the first leg last week.
Adu capped a strong 65 minutes of action by helping set up Aris' third goal with a beautiful long pass that ultimately led to a goal by Koke.
Adu started and played 65 minutes as a left winger for Aris, showing good pace and a willingness to contribute defensively that could bode well for his chances of earning a look by U.S. coach Bob Bradley when he names his squad for the United States' upcoming friendly vs. the Netherlands on March 3 in Amsterdam.
Eddie Johnson also played for Aris, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute.
Here is Adu's goal:
Aris will next face the winner of the Panionios-Kavala quarterfinal series (being played right now) in the semifinals of the Greek Cup. Panathanaikos faces PAS Giannina in the other semifinal series.
What do you think of Adu's latest performance? Starting to like his chances of making the U.S. World Cup team? Hoping he can get some minutes in the Netherlands friendly? Still not convinced he can make the team?
Share your thoughts below.
…Turns out it was Adu.
For example if EJ was Greek he would have to fight as an attacker for a place in the World team cup with – Charisteas (Nurnberg), Salpigidis (Panathinaikos), Gekas (Hertha Berlin), Mitroglou (Olympiakos), Samaras (Celtic), Kapetanos (Steaua Bucarest), Amanatidis (Eintracht Frankfurt). I dont think that Otto Rehaggel our national team manager will call all of them.. probably he will cut 1 (maybe Kapetanos). Kapetanos is more or less same player with EJ. That’s the level of your striker
1) They ‘ re both clever players for the Greek League (i insist on this), Adu might be used as a squad rotation player maybe up to the French league but he has to improve a lot before playing in a league like spanish, english, italian or german. EJ would be definitely a back up player (substitute or out of bench in one of those 4 leagues). If they were Greek players… lets say that EJ would not be called for the World Cup but Adu would be in the 22 footballers for sure with many minutes of participation.
2) They ‘ re clever players but for teams at the 4th- 5th place in the Greek Superleague. They could play for a better team in Greek SuperLeague but not as basics. Maybe after Adu gained some experience he could play for a team like Olympiakos or Panathinaikos as a first team player but not now.
3) Cuper is a genious. The best coach they could ever have. He doesnt want to “burn” them, they didnt have many games on their feet so he keeps them hot and he uses them increasingly more and more. There is a balance inside the team. He cannot put in to bench Campora who has scored 18 goals in 14 months, that wouldnt be fair… but Adu is getting more chances for sure than EJ because as i told u before we dont have a typical left attacking midfielder like him
4) I think Adu will be in the squad for the World Cup. He deserves it- he can help. Not as basic but as substitute. For EJ it is more difficult i think… ok he is for sure one of the 30- 35 players that a national coach might have in mind to call to the national squad but i cant see how he can stand at a very high level as a World Cup. He is for sure a team player he could help but not at this level…
About Greece.. we dont have so many great players as u think.. ok maybe 15- 16 players.. the others are at the same value more or less with EJ (maybe a little bit better) and they just complete the squad.
oskar and Thanasis,
Thank you very much for your posts. You have given us a lot of insight into what kind of players Freddy Adu and Eddie Johnson are. It is hard for American fans because we have a hard time seeing the games and , in the case of these two, they never get on the field much before going to Aris.
Question:
What do you think of both of them when it comes to intelligence about football?
Are they smart players? Can they see things happening and react tto them?
Also, what do you think about how Cuper is using them?
Do you think they could play for our World Cup team? Maybe you don’t get to see much of the US team but how do those two compare to players on European teams like Greece or Turkey? The US plays Turkey before the World Cup so it will be interesting.
Thanks again.
I think Adu has to improve his strength. He is still a boy… i mean physically. He has to work on his body personally. If u see Javito the way he is defending although he is attacking midfielder u will understand. He is not tall he is not very strong but he is like a mosquito pressing the opponents and he forces them to do mistakes. Adu (still) doesnt do that. That’s a typical Javito goal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkZ9iGKoQlU
I hope u understood what i mean
hello everyone iam greek and a fan of ARIS. i was in the stadium the other day. freddy was good. he got sub cause we play a tough game on sunday and he needed to rest. he will get better and better till summer cause our couch (ektor raul cooper) is one of the best in the world. i am afraid eddie is not that good and he will get trouble in startings cause there are koke (our captain) and campora (who scores all the time). although if you want to see EJ he will be starting on suunday cause campora is not playing (4 yellow cards on the league)
Well although it seems strange he is tackling on the ball!! but for somebody who watches football for over 30 years it is clear that Adu doesnt know how to tackle on the ball because he is falling with both legs on the opponent and nobody learnt him how to do it correctly. His positioning when defending is poor. He is trying to concentrate but he can’t help Arano on left side. But at least he is trying. He is always where the ball is played and he is annoying the opponent full back when he is coming to attack.On this part of the game Javito is much better at stealing balls and thats why he comes as substitute of Adu to keep the result when Aris wins 😉
It’s hard to see on television–how could Adu improve defensively? Since you say he is trying, it must be his defensive positioning and movement.
As i told u Adu has done a very good choice to come and play for Aris Thessaloniki. We had 2 attacking midfielders Javito and Toni Calvo who could play both wings, right and left, but they use better their right foot, so we needed a “clear” left winger like Freddy Adu. Javito and Toni Calvo are both Barcelona “products” and they re 2 very good players. I mean they know basics of football very well. Especially Calvo was supposed to be one of the greatest talents in international football when he was 16- 17. There is a story about him that when Juan Laporta, president of Barca, was discussing the transfer of Messi from Argentina to Barcelona, Argentinians were asking a huge amount of money and Laporta replied “well, we can do without Messi, anyway we have the best attacking midfielder in the world at the age of 17, who is Toni Calvo”. So Freddy must be satisfied that he earned so fastly a place in the basic eleven (instead of Javito who is faster, stronger, better in defense for sure, but his finishing is very very poor). I repeat that the only week side of Adu is his defense. He tries a lot and this is obvious. Nobody can be lazy under Hector Cuper instructions. He even makes tacklings during the game, but he has to improve his defensive game. Our left side is a little weaker than our right one with Arano(Argentinian left defender from Huracan) who seems to be very tired because he is having two consecutive football seasons witout rest and Adu who is trying to support Arano but he is not doing it perfectly.Anything u want from me, i can answer your questions
true
And to be fair to your criticism in general:
for years I have been critical of people who say “start Adu Now!” However, if he keeps this form up it may be time to regularly sub him at least…but this is different now that he is playing defense. He maybe getting ready. exciting!
I’ve never been critical of him as an exciting player or growing!
WELL SAID!
I do agree. He belongs up top before Findley and Cunningham…not yet before Casey or Ching…but if he keeps this up? YES, DEFINITELY YES, if his defense keeps up…but yeah, i don’t see any reason why Findley or cunningham should ever be called up for A team over adu…
and the reason is because of DEFENSE…which Ives says is improving! HOORAY! and nice football celebration : )
I still think Donovan, Dempsey, Bradley, and Torres are better than Adu. However, wouldn’t it be great if Adu proved us wrong!
Thanks for your INFORMED and THOUGHTFUL opinion!
I truly learned something from your post, and am even more excited about Adu and EJ playing there.
The thing I am most thrilled about:
“…showing…a willingness to contribute defensively”
this could mean he is finally ready, could be his blow out year, perfect timing….it happens every world cup cycle!
A man can hope and dream 😀
DO WORK FREDDY!