by It’s been a while since we heard from Freddie Andou, once considered the new Pele (even himself) of world football. In 2020 he was training at Österlen, from Sweden’s third division, but he didn’t stay because he was out of shape. Three years later, the former North American international says he wants to return to football. If someone wants it, of course. Adu feels ready to deserve another chance and is willing to work for it.
“I know I have to stay fit and I haven’t played in a while. So I will have to do tests where I will have to be in great shape. “I’m at a point where I’m ready to do it, so we’ll see this summer, hopefully it goes to plan, some doors open and I get a chance to play again,” said Adu, 33. , in an interview with a web page bet In connection.
Adu’s “some time” without playing is five years. Before the test, which was nothing in Sweden’s third division, the last competitive games he played were in the second division football in 2018 by the Las Vegas Light, a team that paid part of its players’ salaries in casino chips and was funded by a marijuana dispensary.
These were the final stages of a career that showed some promise. Adu might not have been the new Pelé, but he had some quality. Not everyone makes their professional debut at 14, the age Adu was when he started playing for Major League Soccer (MLS) side DC United.
Adu quickly became a sports celebrity, with a multi-million Nike sponsorship and call-ups to the US senior team. His gateway to European football, in 2007, was Benfica, where he had three coaches, Fernando Santos, Camacho and Chalana. It wasn’t exactly undisputed, but it wasn’t a complete disaster either – he scored five goals in 21 games, 19 of them as a substitute, in a total of 479 minutes on the pitch.
He was then loaned out by Monaco, Belenenses, Aris Thessaloniki and Rizespor until his Benfica contract expired in 2011. In 2011, he returned to the US for two seasons with some exposure at the Philadelphia Union, but then his playing time decreased over the years. He toured Brazil (Bahia), Jagodina (Serbia) and KuPS (Finland), before returning through the small door to the US, for Tampa Bay Rowdies (two years) and Las Vegas Light (one season).
It was during this period that Adu was even invited to audition for a team in Poland’s second division, but when he arrived in the country, Adu discovered that he had been used as a marketing tool and that not even the team’s coach knew he was there. . Then came this failed experience in Swedish football and the club was very patient with him.
“We had an agreement with him that he would get a chance to prove himself, but from what we’ve seen, we don’t think he can compete. He has a lot of football, but he lacks the physical and mental part”, commented the manager of the Swedish club at the time.
Now, says Adu, it is. “I don’t know what opportunities will present themselves, but I have to be ready. I won’t say I’m too good for someone. I just want to get up and be in the sport I love and miss. I miss the atmosphere, the locker room, the training sessions, my teammates… I miss everything,” he guarantees.
Adu, who has been capped 17 times by the USA, believes his life story could also be reason for clubs to look at him as a potential reinforcement. “I have been to the top of the mountain and to the bottom of the sea. I think I can be a mentor for new players. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don’t work and nurture that talent, you will suffer the consequences.”
