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<H1>Yes the 2nd day of my tournament was cancelled due to weather so now I can bother the moderators all day with my inane postings. 
- T.K.</H1><H1>Prodigy needs Europe's help to realise potential </H1>
<SPAN class=storyby>By Jim White</SPAN>
<DIV style="FLOAT: left"><SPAN class=filed>Last Updated: <SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">2:48am GMT</SPAN>11/11/2006</SPAN></DIV><DIV class=cl></DIV>
<P class=small>
<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width="100%" align=center summary="" border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=#ffffff><TD class=mediumtxt></TD></TR><TR bgColor=#ffffff><TD class=mediumtxt>Your View: Football fans' forum</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=story>Freddy Adu is not lacking in self-confidence.<P class=story>"Sometimes," the 17-year-old Ghanaian-American once said of his performance in training, "I impress even myself."<P class=story>Later this month, Adu will need to do a lot more than impress himself. According to his fan website, the "American Soccer Phenom" is "set to take the British Premier Soccer League by storm". This is an optimistic reading of a contentious, disputed, evidently problematic offer of a two-week trial at Manchester United.<P class=story>At the end of it, we will begin to have an idea of where Adu stands in world football. Which is he: one of the most exciting talents to emerge in a generation? Or the over-hyped product of a commercial engine that is increasingly seeking to drive football?<DIV class=mpuad><DIV class=adtxt>advertisement</DIV><SCRIPT language=javascript src="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/NetGravity/mpu.js"></SCRIPT></DIV><P class=story>Is he the next Cesc Fabregas? Or is he simply a second Calum Best, who was once put through the trial motions by a reluctant Sir Alex Ferguson simply because of his connections?<P class=story>Adu's arrival at Carrington in a fortnight tells us an awful lot about the way the game is being run, both internationally and more specifically in the boardroom at Old Trafford. He was born in Ghana and was playing football from the age of three in his home town of Tema.<P class=story>When he was eight his parents won a US immigration lottery and he moved to Washington DC, where his athleticism and natural skill were immediately picked up. So much so, that at 12 he was offered the chance to go to Milan and play for Inter's academy.<P class=story>His advisers persuaded him he would be better off staying at home and at 14 he made his first appearance for DC United in the Major Soccer League, the youngest debutant in professional sport in American history. By 17, he was a regular in the team. In the very small pond of US football, he was already the biggest fish around.<P class=story>What makes Adu's progress far more intriguing than simply being the tale of a gifted prodigy, is that almost from the moment word was out about him, he became the physical embodiment of the commercial desperation to break football as a major spectator sport in America.<P class=story>Nike, anxious to find a home-grown (well, almost) superstar on which to attach their flag, put him on a multi-million dollar contract when he was just 13. Because legally he was too young to do it himself, his mum had to sign the deal. For the company it was a huge gamble. But if this was the Tiger Woods of soccer, they convinced themselves, it would be madness not to have him signed up lock, stock and shinpad. From the moment the contract was inked in, his celebrity was never in doubt. The question was, however: was his talent commensurate with his fame?<P class=story>Bruce Arena, the US national team coach, clearly wasn't sure. In a move which must have cut Nike's marketing executives to the quic
- T.K.</H1><H1>Prodigy needs Europe's help to realise potential </H1><SPAN class=storyby>By Jim White</SPAN>
<DIV style="FLOAT: left"><SPAN class=filed>Last Updated: <SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">2:48am GMT</SPAN>11/11/2006</SPAN></DIV><DIV class=cl></DIV>
<P class=small>
<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width="100%" align=center summary="" border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=#ffffff><TD class=mediumtxt></TD></TR><TR bgColor=#ffffff><TD class=mediumtxt>Your View: Football fans' forum</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=story>Freddy Adu is not lacking in self-confidence.<P class=story>"Sometimes," the 17-year-old Ghanaian-American once said of his performance in training, "I impress even myself."<P class=story>Later this month, Adu will need to do a lot more than impress himself. According to his fan website, the "American Soccer Phenom" is "set to take the British Premier Soccer League by storm". This is an optimistic reading of a contentious, disputed, evidently problematic offer of a two-week trial at Manchester United.<P class=story>At the end of it, we will begin to have an idea of where Adu stands in world football. Which is he: one of the most exciting talents to emerge in a generation? Or the over-hyped product of a commercial engine that is increasingly seeking to drive football?<DIV class=mpuad><DIV class=adtxt>advertisement</DIV><SCRIPT language=javascript src="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/NetGravity/mpu.js"></SCRIPT></DIV><P class=story>Is he the next Cesc Fabregas? Or is he simply a second Calum Best, who was once put through the trial motions by a reluctant Sir Alex Ferguson simply because of his connections?<P class=story>Adu's arrival at Carrington in a fortnight tells us an awful lot about the way the game is being run, both internationally and more specifically in the boardroom at Old Trafford. He was born in Ghana and was playing football from the age of three in his home town of Tema.<P class=story>When he was eight his parents won a US immigration lottery and he moved to Washington DC, where his athleticism and natural skill were immediately picked up. So much so, that at 12 he was offered the chance to go to Milan and play for Inter's academy.<P class=story>His advisers persuaded him he would be better off staying at home and at 14 he made his first appearance for DC United in the Major Soccer League, the youngest debutant in professional sport in American history. By 17, he was a regular in the team. In the very small pond of US football, he was already the biggest fish around.<P class=story>What makes Adu's progress far more intriguing than simply being the tale of a gifted prodigy, is that almost from the moment word was out about him, he became the physical embodiment of the commercial desperation to break football as a major spectator sport in America.<P class=story>Nike, anxious to find a home-grown (well, almost) superstar on which to attach their flag, put him on a multi-million dollar contract when he was just 13. Because legally he was too young to do it himself, his mum had to sign the deal. For the company it was a huge gamble. But if this was the Tiger Woods of soccer, they convinced themselves, it would be madness not to have him signed up lock, stock and shinpad. From the moment the contract was inked in, his celebrity was never in doubt. The question was, however: was his talent commensurate with his fame?<P class=story>Bruce Arena, the US national team coach, clearly wasn't sure. In a move which must have cut Nike's marketing executives to the quic
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