From foxsports.com
ENSCHEDE, Netherlands (AP) - If Freddy Adu is lucky, nobody will remember his appearance at the World Youth Championship. If not, it will be for two missed penalties. Nothing less, and nothing more.
Adu, hyped as a world-class rising talent for the past two years, flies back home with the U.S. team on Wednesday, eliminated by a classy Italy which peaked at the right moment to beat the Americans 3-1 in the second round.
At 16, Adu was the youngest player in the under-20 tournament. But his precocious talent already made him a veteran, and it was supposed to turn him into a leader.
"Freddy Adu is the new Pele," read one banner at his opening game in the championship.
But the so-called new Pele will be trying to pick up his form in Major League Soccer in the United States while other emerging stars like Argentina's Lionel Messi and Spain's Juanfran continue to spearhead their teams to hoped-for under-20 glory.
Adu will also face tough questions, and those commercial endorsements might start to weigh heavier around his neck.
To his credit, he was willing to confront the repercussions of a poor campaign.
"It is a huge disappointment," Adu said after Tuesday's game. "The worst tournament I ever played personally."
U.S. coach Sigi Schmid put it even more bluntly: "I didn't think he showed up today."
Adu did force Tuesday's penalty, but when he stepped up to take it, his attempt was saved. Until the opening tournament game against Argentina, when he also squandered a penalty kick, Adu had never missed a penalty for national teams.
Luckily on Tuesday, the referee ruled Italy goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano was too far off his line and ordered the shot retaken. This time, Schmid made Adu step back and let Hunter Freeman convert.
But after that, Adu and the U.S. team disintegrated in the second half and allowed the Italians through.
Adu admitted he fooled himself into thinking the Italians weren't that good after they qualified only as the lucky third-finishers in their four-team group.
"The guys, including myself, we relaxed a little bit," he said.
"We figured Italy was not going to be as good as they really were. But they were much, much better than that, and they took it to us. That was a bummer on our part," he said.
Adu goes back to MLS chastened in the knowledge that making the World Cup team for Germany next year has turned into a longshot.
"Right now I need a lot of work. I got to go back, work, and hopefully do real well with D.C. United and get my confidence back up," he said.
He also needs add bulk. On Tuesday, he was again the lightest and smallest player on the pitch.
"He needs to step up to the physical nature of the game," Schmid said. "Italy is a physical team and I think it took him out of his game."
Internationally, too, Adu was given more perspective on his development. "He is a good player," said Italy coach Paolo Berrettini. "He can only improve with age.
