Freddy Adu: Wonder Kid of the Soccer World

Freddy Adu: Wonder Kid of the Soccer World

Freddy Adu is 14 years old and that makes him the youngest pro 1 athlete in any 1)team sport in more than a century and at 500,000 dollars a year, the highest paid player in American pro soccer before ever playing a single game. Freddy Adu, can do just about anything he wants with a soccer ball including 2)fake much older players right out of their 3)cleats. People who know say that he could develop into the best player not just in America but in the entire soccer mad world. And at an age where most kids are begging their parents for a higher 4)allowance, he’s got a million dollar contract with Nike and another 5)endorsement deal with Pepsi. In his first commercial Pepsi has paired Freddy with the best soccer player in history: Pele.

Pele: I told him, “listen, God gave it to you that the gift to play football.”

Bruce Arena 2 is the most influential 3 figure in men’s soccer, coach of the men’s national team that will compete for the World Cup in 2006, a team Freddy hopes to make.

Interviewer: What is it in his play that makes everybody who knows what they are talking about say “oh, wow”.

Bruce: He’s strong, he’s quick, he’s 6)agile, he’s got good balance and he’s got great vision, he is very special. We think he’s gonna be a great one.

Freddy learned the game as soon as he learned to walk in his native Ghana in West Africa and he didn’t just play soccer he 7)lived it.

Freddy: I did not go one day without playing.

Interviewer: Just kicking and learning and you loved it?

Freddy: Yes, it was awesome 5, it was awesome because you know like there was no coaches, no one to tell you what to do. It was just you play and learn stuff on your own.

It was during those early days in Ghana that Freddy’s mother Amelia first encouraged her soccer 8)prodigy.

Freddy: My mom was always the supplier of soccer balls and so people were always knocking on my door and trying to get me out, so we could play.

Freddy’s street soccer days ended in 1998 after his parents entered a visa 9)lottery 6 at the US embassy in Ghana.

Interviewer: You won the lottery?

Freddy: Exactly.

Interviewer: And got a visa to come to the United States.

Freddy: Come to the United States…

Interviewer: How old were you when you came here?

Freddy: I was eight years old.

Interviewer: Was it scary?

Freddy: Yes and sad, I didn’t even have a ball when I first came I didn’t even have a soccer ball, so it was hard.

Life got even harder, after they settled near Washington D.C. Freddy says his father just abandoned the family one day.

Interviewer: Do you ever see him?

Freddy: No, I don’t see him, he’s completely 10)out of the picture now.

Amelia, suddenly the sole 11)breadwinner for Freddy and his younger brother, worked two jobs to 12)make ends meet.

Freddy: She’d wake up at five in the morning leave at six go to work, she’s gone; she gets off work at six o’clock in the evening to go to an overnight job.

Meanwhile Freddy’s soccer skills were noticed on the playground. And he was 13)recruited for a local league team. In less than a year he was the best player on an all-star team… playing with kids four and five years older than he was.

Interviewer: One of the big soccer teams in Europe actually an Italian team, didn’t they offer you a big huge amount of money to come and play for them?

Freddy: Yeah!

Interviewer: How much was it do you remember?

Freddy: It was 750, 000 dollars to, uh, play for Inter 4 Milan.

Interviewer: And how old were you then?

Freddy: I was ten.

Interviewer: Oh, my gosh! Your mother said no.

Freddy: She said no, you know, and she was 14)looking out for our 15)well-being 7.

Interviewer: What is the very best moment so far that you have had playing soccer?

Freddy: We were tied with 16)Sierra Leone one one in the second game of a 17)tournament and they were just 18)beating me up all over the field and I mean I’m having a nightmare and in the 88th minute one of my team mates Jamie Watson flicks 8 the ball to me, I run by the defender 9, take out the goalie and score. When teams are abusing me like that, the greatest thing to do is to just score on them, that was the greatest feeling.

Interviewer: That’s exciting.

Freddy: Oh, 19)man…

注释：
1) team sport 团体性运动
2) fake sb. out （在比赛中）以假动作迷惑某人
3) cleats [kli:ts] n. （装有防滑钉的）防滑鞋
4) allowance [E5lauEns] n. 津贴, 补助
5) endorsement deal 广告合同
6) agile [5AdVail] a. 敏捷的,灵活的
7) live [liv] v. 把（角色）演活
8) prodigy [5prCdidVi] n. 天才（特指神童）
9) lottery [5lCtEri] n. 抽彩给奖法
10)  out of the picture  <口>不熟知情况，不知情
11)  breadwinner [5bredwinE] n. 养家活口的人, 负担家计的人
12)  make ends meet 收支相抵
13)  recruit [ri5kru:t] v. 使恢复, 补充, 征募
14)  look out for 为……筹措
15)  well-being [5wel5bi:iN] 康乐，安乐
16)  Sierra Leone [5siErE li5Eun] 塞拉利昂（西非国家）
17)  tournament [5tuEnEmEnt] n. 锦标赛, 联赛
18)  beat up 痛打，狠揍
19)  man [mAn] int. <俚>[表示惊奇、喜悦、兴奋、不耐烦等]啊，哈，哎呀

足坛神奇小子阿杜

弗雷迪·阿杜年仅14岁，因而成为逾百年来，团体运动中最年轻的职业运动员。而且，他拿着一年50万美元的薪水，成为美国没有作赛经验的职业球员中薪酬最高的一位。弗雷迪·阿杜踢球简直随心所欲，比如他能以假动作令那些比他老练得多的球员防守失位。知情的人都说阿杜不仅能成为美国，而且能成为整个狂热的足球世界里最优秀的球员。在大多数孩子还在向父母乞求多一点零用钱的年龄，阿杜已经与耐克签了一个100万美元的广告合同，而且与百事可乐公司也有广告合约。在阿杜的首个商业广告中，百事公司让他和足球史上最优秀的球星——贝利，同台竞技。

贝利：我告诉他：“听着，上帝赐予了你踢足球的天赋。”
布鲁斯·阿里纳是男子足球领域最有影响力的人物，他是带领美国男子国家足球队竞争2006年世界杯的主教练。阿杜一直希望自己能加入此队。

记者：是什么让每一个懂得足球的人看阿杜踢球时都赞不绝口？

布鲁斯：他身体结实，速度很快，反应灵敏，平衡感强，而且洞察力极佳。他的确非常特别。我们相信他一定会成为一名出色的球员。
阿杜原籍西非的加纳，并在当地出生，自学会走路起，他就开始学踢足球了。而他不单单只是踢足球，而是把它踢出神来了。

阿杜：一天不踢球我就过不下去。

记者：你就是这样踢踢玩玩，自己学习，就爱上足球了吗？

阿杜：是的，那简直不可思议，因为要知道，没有教练，没有人告诉你怎么去做，只是自己一边踢一边琢磨踢球的窍门。
正是以前在加纳的那段日子，阿杜的母亲亚美里亚第一个给予她的足球天才儿子鼓励。

阿杜：我妈妈总是为我提供足球，因此那里的人总是敲我家的门叫我出去，然后我们就可以一起踢了。
1998年，阿杜的父母参与了美国驻加纳大使馆的签证抽签，阿杜街头足球的日子从此结束了。

记者：你们被抽中了？

阿杜：的确如此。

记者：你们得到了来美国的签证。

阿杜：来美国……

记者：你来美国时多少岁？

阿杜：我那时8岁。

记者：当时是不是不知所措？

阿杜：是的，而且挺难过的。我刚来到的时候甚至连个球都没有。我连个足球都没有，日子很难熬。
阿杜说，他们全家在华盛顿特区附近住下来后，有一天他的父亲抛弃了他们，于是日子便更难熬了。

记者：到现在你见过他吗？

阿杜：不，没见过，他现在完全不知道他的情况。
从此亚美里亚一下子成了家里的唯一经济支柱，她要做两份工作才能养活阿杜和弟弟。

阿杜：妈妈早上5点就起床，6点离家去工作，她十分劳累；她晚上6点下班后再去做另一份通宵工作。
在这期间，阿杜的足球才能逐渐为人所注意。他被招进当地的一支足球联队。不到一年的时间，他成为了全明星队的最佳球员，与年龄比他大四、五岁的孩子一起踢球。

记者：欧洲的一个大球会，确切地说是意大利的一个球会，是不是曾出大价钱让你为他们踢球？

阿杜：是的。

记者：你还记得是多少钱吗？

阿杜：是75万美元，为国际米兰效力。

记者：你那时多少岁？

阿杜：10岁。

记者：天啊！但你的妈妈说不要去。

阿杜：她说不要去，你知道，她那是为我们着想。

记者：到目前为止，你踢足球经历过最快乐的一刻是什么？

阿杜：在联赛的第二场比赛中我们和塞拉利昂队1：1打成平手，在球场上他们都在不停地对我进行恶意侵犯，那简直就是一场噩梦。在比赛进行到第88分钟时，我的队友杰米·沃特森将球轻轻一磕传给我，我晃过防守队员，引对方守门员出击，然后射门得分。当对手像那样恶意侵犯我的时候，最棒的反击就是从他们身上得分，那种感觉最爽！

记者：真是让人兴奋。

阿杜：哦，爽呀……