'They called me the new Pele at 14 - this is where my career went wrong'

Not too long ago, Freddy Adu was a household name. At the age of 14, he was picked first in the MLS Super Draft by DC United and had been dubbed the 'new Pele'. He was the youngest professional athlete in the history of United States major sports and even starred opposite the late Brazil legend in an advert for Sierra Mist.

The talented forward appeared to have the world at his feet. But by 2007, when Adu was 18 and his career four years old, he ended an underwhelming time in MLS by joining Benfica for £1.5million.

In another four years, Adu was loaned out on six separate occasions and he failed to make his mark in Portugal. He would play for 13 clubs in nine countries across 14 years, before ending his career in the Swedish third tier for Osterlen.

In doing so, Adu became football's biggest 'What if?' story. Those who witnessed his early promises felt that he would reach the upper echelons of football and be mentioned in the same breath as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Adu has had time to reflect on his career and ultimately, is proud of what he achieved. Now 36, the American represented his country on 17 occasions, including at the 2008 Olympics, and travelled the world.

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Perhaps unexpectedly, however, Adu has admitted to some regrets throughout his time in football.

"So for me, like anything there's highs and lows, but for me it was just awesome to live out my dream," Adu told Express Sport with the best casino. "My whole existence as a child I just wanted to be a professional football player. That's just all I wanted to do, and to live that out at such a young age was incredible.

"When I look back on it, I was sort of naive because I was so young, and I was just like: 'You know what? I'm just living my life. I'm enjoying it. I'm able to take care of my family. What could be better right now?'

"I don't think I saw a lot of the stuff, the off-the-field stuff, being spread thin at the time, having to be the face of the league at such a young age; I didn't see that part of it. When I was asked to do something, I was just like: 'Alright, cool, yes, let's go.'

"I should have just kept it soccer. If I could go back, I would have said no to a lot of that off-the-field stuff. Let me just focus on the field. Let me focus on my training. Let me focus on getting better as a player and improving it, because that's the time when you really grow and improve as a player, when you're young.

"Look, when they're paying you the amount of money they pay, when you've got all the press in the world, you are at that point the face of the league, and you have to act like it."

Adu opened up about having a completely different schedule from his lesser-known team-mates in the States and wishing he was experienced enough to turn down what had been considered opportunities.

"As I got older and I look back on it, I wish I had just said no to a lot of that stuff," Adu explained. "I still don't know if I could have just said no, but I wish I had at least let it be known that I wanted to just focus on the football part of it and said no to a lot of this other stuff.

"Traveling ahead, not traveling with the team to away games, I had to go a day before the team got there, because I had appearances and I had all this other stuff, these things do take away from you as a as a player, and sort of just the team camaraderie, the chemistry that you have with the team, and chemistry you have within the team.

"I didn't see it as that at the time, because I was just so young, I think and wasn't really thinking about stuff like that.

"But I could see my team-mates at that point, right? You could see how my team-mates would be, like: 'What the hell man, we're travelling separately from him, and then he's going to come in?' And it just takes away from the team, too. Just little things like that are what I wish that I could have said no to at the time, and maybe find a different way to do stuff like that."

Adu hasn't played professionally since 2021 when his contract was controversially terminated in Sweden, having been signed against the Osterland head coach's wishes.

Now 36, the former bright light of American sport spends his days coaching and mentoring the country's new crop of talented footballers, educating them on the pitfalls of professional sport and guiding them to the next phase of their careers.

"I absolutely love it," Adu beamed. "I love the coaching part of it, it really does fulfil me. I like coaching these younger players, because you see the hope and the happiness in their eyes when they're playing.

"They have the hope, the goals of going pro someday. They talk about guys like Messi all the time. Messi is here now, so all the kids talk about, Messi and Cristiano and guys like that, and obviously [Kylian] Mbappe and [Lamine] Yamal, right now.

"These kids have this hope of one day becoming professional football players and you know not every one of them is going to make it, just being realistic, but just helping them as best as I can, mentoring them and basically passing down everything that I learned, both good and bad. Bringing that to them is what makes it all worth it for me."