Adu has right touch as U.S. rolls to win

By Pat Rooney, Special to the Rocky

Published November 19, 2008 at 11:20 p.m.

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U.S. midfielder Freddy Adu, left, pursues the ball with Guatemala defenseman Claudio Albizuris during the first half of a World Cup qualifying soccer match in Commerce City on Wednesday.

American soccer fans still are waiting for Freddy Adu to deliver on the immense promise that came with his much-hyped Major League Soccer debut as a 14-year old in 2004.

Adu since has taken his game overseas, but he remains one of the brightest prospects on the U.S. national team.

Bob Bradley, coach of the national team, admitted that sometimes Adu's biggest challenge is earning the respect of his more established teammates on the field.

Adu might have taken a huge step in that direction Wednesday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The 19-year-old midfielder asserted himself as one of the most dangerous players and scored his first national team goal, one of two scores recorded by the U.S. in the second half of a 2-0 win against Guatemala before 9,303 fans in a World Cup qualifier.

The U.S. already had secured a spot in the next qualifying round, but the victory ended Guatemala's long-shot chance at advancing.

"A lot of the guys, we haven't played together. We came together as a team." Adu said. "We started the game pretty strong, but we took our foot off the pedal a little bit. We let them have the ball a little bit and we addressed that at halftime. We went out and attacked, attacked, attacked."

Jozy Altidore sparked several scoring chances during the first half, but Altidore, who turned 19 two weeks ago, helped the Americans score in the 54th minute, sending a crossing pass to a sliding Kenny Cooper, whose shot bounced past Guatemalan goalkeeper Ricardo Jerez.

Adu enjoyed his big moment in the 69th minute after a Guatemala penalty set up a free kick just outside the penalty box.

Adu begged Sacha Kljestan off the kick but took full advantage of the decoy run Kljestan made at the ball, following Kljestan to drill a left-footed liner that gave the U.S. a two-goal edge.

"Everybody always wants to get their first national team goal," Adu said. "It's great. It definitely helps your confidence. Hopefully, you can just build off of this and help the team out . . . and even if I don't score goals, help the team out in different ways and make a difference out there."

Rapids midfielder Pablo Mastroeni served as the team captain and played the entire match, while Rapids teammate Conor Casey, whose national team career was derailed years back by leg injuries, returned to international duty by entering in the 76th minute.

"It's been a while since I've been on the national team, and after this season, to get called in, it's been a real fun week," Casey said.

• November 20, 2008

  11:14 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Bonji writes:

  I had a lot of fun at the game last night. Hopefully next time the US National team comes back there can be a full house.

• November 20, 2008

  2:31 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  milehighsoapbox writes:

  I would agree. It was a great game and great atmosphere, but I am disappointed that it wasn't sold out. This was a World Cup Qualifier and there should have been more attention paid to it by the local media and soccer fans.

  I spoke to a bunch of soccer fans who didn't even know that this game was going to take place.

  The next time it should be sold out.

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