Considered by many to be on his way to becoming the best player in the world, Adu has the expectations of an awful lot of people resting on his young shoulders. He has been paid an undisclosed amount of money–rumored to be several hundred thousand per season–for a six-year deal with MLS. The league is banking on his ability to bring an infusion of new interest and new fans to U.S. soccer. He also has a reported $1 million endorsement deal with Nike. Other child stars, though certainly not all, have performed–and behaved–miserably under this sort of pressure, and MLS representatives have said they want to make sure Adu lives the life of a normal 14-year-old.
Most normal 14-year-olds don’t appear on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” don’t have million-dollar contracts and can’t stake a claim for the title of greatest soccer player on earth. Yet apart from the extremely unusual circumstances, Adu seems well grounded and mature, qualities that his mother, Emelia, is often credited with having fostered. Whether he will be able to maintain his seemingly unshakable self-possession–and his game–after being scrutinized by fans and sports critics with ultrahigh expectations remains to be seen. Then there are his teammates, who may bristle at having to share the field with a superstar half their age. Critics say that letting players this young play on professional teams is purely profit-driven and denies the need for kids to be kids. They also fear it breeds intensely ambitious parents across the country to push their own children too hard. Still, there are youth-superstar success stories–Tiger Woods comes to mind–and Adu may well have what it takes to stay in the game as well as on top of it.
His new gig with D.C. United, based in Washington, D.C., will at least bring him home to Potomac, Md., where he will live with his family again. These days, he’s in Florida, where he has been going to school and playing with the U-17 team. In Washington, Adu will be teamed with some aggressive older players. MLS executives have said that they don’t expect he’ll start for the team right away, but much will depend on how he fits in with his new team. For now, Adu seems to be taking the spotlight in stride. In fact, he looks delighted in public. After all, he is living an all-American dream: an immigrant from a poor country grows into a wealthy superstar, admired the world over. The question now: will Americans pay attention?
