Everton will create hostile atmosphere ahead of Man Utd clash | Football Digest
A former USMNT star who was once dubbed ‘the new Pele’ has revealed how he was onced offered out to dinner by Cristiano Ronaldo whilst he was on trial at Manchester United. Freddy Adu was tipped for superstardom after exploding onto the scene in America as a teenager at DC United, where he made his first team debut at the age of 14.
With clubs in Europe taking firm interest, the Ghana-born forward earned himself a trial at Manchester United in 2003, with legendary Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson keen to take a closer look at the prodigious talent.
Ultimately, he would not be offered a contract at Old Trafford and returned to the MLS before signing for Portuguese club Benfica in 2007, but his experience at United has always stayed with him, none more so than the way he was treated by Ronaldo who by then was already one of the biggest stars in the world game.
Talking about his time in England to NJ bet, Adu said: “One day after a session I was getting ready to go back to my place when Cristiano Ronaldo pulled up in his car next to me, and was just really, really nice and said ‘Hey man! If you need anything let me know!’
“He offered to take me out to dinner, to show me around and just so that I knew I wasn’t alone over there – that blew my mind!
“I had no idea that Cristiano was such a nice person and I became an instant Ronaldo fan in that moment – he couldn’t have been any nicer. At that point, I said that this is the person I want to be, and how I want to carry myself, because other people were looking at me the way I was looking at Cristiano – you just have to be nice to people, no matter what. So that, for me, was an incredible moment.
“I actually didn’t get a chance to hang out with Cristiano after that, because I was the young kid that was being hosted so wanted to be respectful. I told him that if I’m ever back, that I would hold him to the promise of dinner!”
Although Adu did not sign for United, he still left an impression on Ferguson, who described the youngster as a “talented boy” that the club would continue to keep tabs on.
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It is a compliment that still fills Adu with pride, even if his journeyman career did not quite hit the heights that his early promise had suggested.
Adu said: “It meant the world to me to hear that from Sir Alex Ferguson because, in my opinion, he was the best coach in the world. The guy is legendary and he knew talent, so when he sees you and he says that you are very talented, that just validated the amount of talent that I had and gave me a lot of confidence.
“When I went there I did well, so after being at Man U and being around all those players, I remember performing extremely well because my confidence was at an all-time high. At that time, just being around those players for a few weeks, took my game to another level.”
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