In the summer of 2007, Freddy Adu had reached a crossroads. He was on his way back from the 2007 Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Canada, at which he had played the best football of his career – a career now almost four years old, despite the fact he had turned 18 only a month earlier, and one comprised first of immeasurable hype and latterly of disappointment.
The US had reached the quarter-finals, where they were beaten by Austria. It was a modest run for a talented squad. But Adu had shone brightly throughout, captaining the side as he scored a hat-trick against Poland and dazzled with his trickery and creativity in upset victories over Brazil and Uruguay.
