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November 29, 2007, 7:51 pm Jozy Altidore: Next Stop China
By Jozy Altidore
Tags: Jozy Altidore, MLS, red bulls
Red Bulls forward Jozy Altidore contributes items for The New York Times Goal blog each week. In his latest post, Altidore discusses a coming trip to China with the United States men’s Olympic team for games on Dec. 13 in Changsha and Dec. 16 in Guangzhou, and his brief off-season.
Red Bulls’ striker Jozy Altidore.
First things first: So many people have been asking me about me jumping to Europe. I have to tell you that my representatives, not the Red Bulls, have told me not to say anything.
Actually, I would love to talk about it, but I’ve been told so many times this week not to discuss it. I really don’t know why, but I have to take the advice of my agent. The thing is, it’s really nice to be wanted because it’s been so hard up to this point. I’ve been getting a tiny, tiny bit of recognition and I can understand why the team doesn’t want me to go.
Personally, I have a long way to go before I think I’m ready. This has been a great starting place for me and it’s nice that a club like the Red Bulls wants me to stay.
To the fans, I want to say that I have goals in football to do things in the future. I’m still very young, and right now I’m enjoying where I am. I enjoy New York. I’ve been a fan of this club since I was really young and it’s always been a dream to play in New York.
I’m going to have to leave it there.
Right now, I’m just relaxing and hanging out a bit, but if you really look at it, we really don’t have much of an off-season. The maximum time off is probably something like two weeks, but that’s the way things are. Players around the world seem to play year round. We can’t complain, we just have to deal with it. But, yeah, it is a long season.
I love the game so much that it’s not going to bother me. In terms of my body I’m just going to be smart, eat correctly, get enough rest and it shouldn’t be too difficult for me. I’m going out to Los Angeles this weekend for training camp with the U-23 team, then it’s on to China for a couple of games.
It’s nice any time you get named to a national team, and for me, it’s a great honor. I’ll be with a new group of guys and it will be fun to be around them and to see how the team develops over time as we get ready for qualifying games.
I know I was with the senior national team in South Africa a few weeks ago, but I think the approach will be the same with the Olympic team. You just have to be active and tuned into everything and get used to a new environment.
I’ve never been to China so I’m really excited about that. Any time you get to play in a country that loves soccer it’s usually a good atmosphere. It’s a new culture so it should be exciting. What I’m really looking forward to is some authentic Chinese food, I can’t wait to try the real orange chicken and General Tso chicken. Real Chinese takeout!
Finally, I want to pass along a funny little story. We were having lunch in my house in Florida and my dad, Joseph, was watching an M.L.S. game from last season. I don’t want to go too crazy on this, because the league can be pretty sensitive when it comes to officiating, but my dad was pretty funny when he said: “I don’t understand why the refs let so much go on and don’t protect the players better.” It was pretty funny because he usually doesn’t say much about games and it’s nice to see that someone else recognizes the battles I have to deal with. It was just funny hearing that come from my father.
By Jozy Altidore
Tags: Jozy Altidore, MLS, red bulls
Red Bulls forward Jozy Altidore contributes items for The New York Times Goal blog each week. In his latest post, Altidore discusses a coming trip to China with the United States men’s Olympic team for games on Dec. 13 in Changsha and Dec. 16 in Guangzhou, and his brief off-season.
Red Bulls’ striker Jozy Altidore.First things first: So many people have been asking me about me jumping to Europe. I have to tell you that my representatives, not the Red Bulls, have told me not to say anything.
Actually, I would love to talk about it, but I’ve been told so many times this week not to discuss it. I really don’t know why, but I have to take the advice of my agent. The thing is, it’s really nice to be wanted because it’s been so hard up to this point. I’ve been getting a tiny, tiny bit of recognition and I can understand why the team doesn’t want me to go.
Personally, I have a long way to go before I think I’m ready. This has been a great starting place for me and it’s nice that a club like the Red Bulls wants me to stay.
To the fans, I want to say that I have goals in football to do things in the future. I’m still very young, and right now I’m enjoying where I am. I enjoy New York. I’ve been a fan of this club since I was really young and it’s always been a dream to play in New York.
I’m going to have to leave it there.
Right now, I’m just relaxing and hanging out a bit, but if you really look at it, we really don’t have much of an off-season. The maximum time off is probably something like two weeks, but that’s the way things are. Players around the world seem to play year round. We can’t complain, we just have to deal with it. But, yeah, it is a long season.
I love the game so much that it’s not going to bother me. In terms of my body I’m just going to be smart, eat correctly, get enough rest and it shouldn’t be too difficult for me. I’m going out to Los Angeles this weekend for training camp with the U-23 team, then it’s on to China for a couple of games.
It’s nice any time you get named to a national team, and for me, it’s a great honor. I’ll be with a new group of guys and it will be fun to be around them and to see how the team develops over time as we get ready for qualifying games.
I know I was with the senior national team in South Africa a few weeks ago, but I think the approach will be the same with the Olympic team. You just have to be active and tuned into everything and get used to a new environment.
I’ve never been to China so I’m really excited about that. Any time you get to play in a country that loves soccer it’s usually a good atmosphere. It’s a new culture so it should be exciting. What I’m really looking forward to is some authentic Chinese food, I can’t wait to try the real orange chicken and General Tso chicken. Real Chinese takeout!
Finally, I want to pass along a funny little story. We were having lunch in my house in Florida and my dad, Joseph, was watching an M.L.S. game from last season. I don’t want to go too crazy on this, because the league can be pretty sensitive when it comes to officiating, but my dad was pretty funny when he said: “I don’t understand why the refs let so much go on and don’t protect the players better.” It was pretty funny because he usually doesn’t say much about games and it’s nice to see that someone else recognizes the battles I have to deal with. It was just funny hearing that come from my father.
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