Freddy Adu Could Still Play For Ghana

Filed in archive US Soccer on June 26, 2006

image: bbc.co.uk

Seems Freddy Adu still isn't 100% committed to playing for the USA. Speaking before the Group E loss to Ghana last week, Adu said: "It's still open, you never know. The way Ghana is playing right now, they're a good, good team."

"I have not played an international Fifa-sanctioned friendly for any country yet.

"I guess whoever comes along and offers me that chance, you know, in the near future, I'll think about it and we'll see what happens.

"Because you never know, maybe I might not get a chance to play for the US national team."

Seems Adu was feeling the frustration of missing out on the World Cup, especially after reportedly rejecting a late offer to join Ghana's squad. While Adu has played 9 minutes for the senior US team, it wasn't in a FIFA sanctioned game and so technically leaves him free to play for either side.

Soccer-Weblog predicts Adu will still play for the US, especially if Nike have anything to do with it. They've invested substantial sums into Adu on the assumption he's the future of US soccer. He's meant to be the marquee name to take American soccer forward, but he won't do that wearing a Ghana jersey.

Having seen a lot of Adu this year, he's wasn't quite ready to play in the World Cup for either team, though he's getting close. A new era of US soccer will begin once the tournament is over, with elder statesmen like Claudio Reyna retiring and the US in need of creative midfielders, so expect Adu to get the call for the next round of friendlies.