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DC United signs teen soccer sensation
Fourteen year old soccer sensation Freddy Adu has announced his new contract with Major League Soccer's (MLS) DC United.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 08:48 AM IST
Read Time: 2 min
New York :
Fourteen year old soccer sensation Freddy Adu was held a press conference at New York's Madison Square Garden to announce his new contract with Major League Soccer's (MLS) DC United.
After reports that the likes of Manchester United, PSV Eindhoven and Chelsea were chasing his signature, Freddy Adu decided on DC United, hoping to earn a place in the starting lineup and play his way onto the United States team for the 2006 World Cup, which starts a week after his 17th birthday.
If he gets on the field with his new club next season, Adu would become the youngest player for a major American team since 14-year-old Fred Chapman debuted for Philadelphia of major league baseball's American Association in 1887.
Adu, who left Ghana in 1997 and became a US citizen in February, was introduced by MLS at Madison Square Garden, where the soccer world gathered 12 years earlier for the preliminary draw for the 1994 World Cup.
"It is with enormous pride and excitement that we announce today that Major League Soccer has reached a long-term agreement with young Freddy Adu, one of the most accomplished young soccer players in the world," said Don Garber, MLS Commissioner.
Great expectations
Already, MLS is ready for Freddy. His new team's opener on April 3rd will be televised nationally in the United States. What viewers could see is a boy showing rare speed and skill against men.
MLS gave him a four-year contract with a two-year league option. While no details were disclosed, league officials say that for "special" players, there are marketing agreements that give them more than the maximum salary, $280,000.
Adu started kicking a ball when he was about 2-years old and learned to play in bare feet on fields littered with rocks and broken bottles in Tema, Ghana.
He came to the United States after his mother, Emelia, won a State Department visa lottery, hoping to improve the education of her two boys. (AP)
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