When the United States beat Brazil 2-1 in the Under-20 World Cup on Friday, the most encouraging takeaway was that this win was no miracle. Brazil might have had more possession and created more chances, but its defense had absolutely no answer for the one-two punch of New York Red Bulls striker Josmer Altidore and Real Salt Lake’s Freddy Adu. Altidore had a great game: the 17-year-old looked like the strongest man on the field, holding the ball up well, winning it in the air, and scoring two goals — the first was the kind of powerful finish any world-class center-forward would be proud of.
Adu, however, was outstanding. All game long Freddy was the most dangerous man on the field, one he shared with the likes of Alexandre Pato, winner of last year’s FIFA Club World Championship with Internacional, and Jo, CSKA Moscow’s lanky striker who will soon be on his way to bigger and better things. But Adu outshined them all, looking like a young Diego Maradona to Pato’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The individual brilliance with which he juggled the ball between two Brazilian defenders to set up Altidore’s game-winning goal was certainly worthy of Maradona.
Indeed, following the win against Brazil and his hat trick against Poland, Freddy heads the short list of candidates for tournament MVP going into the second round, where the U.S. meets Uruguay on Wednesday. “It’s been a long time since I felt this way, to be honest with you,” Adu, 18, told the Washington Post after the historic win. “It’s been a long road, it’s been a long time coming…I have taken this whole mentality of: ‘Hey, soccer is fun. Just have fun.” It’s certainly a pleasure to watch.”