During the USA's 3-0 victory that clinched an Olympic soccer berth, Canada coach Nick Dasovic realized he was watching a thing of beauty in Freddy Adu. But that didn't necessarily mean he had to like watching Adu convert free kicks into goals.
"I hate it," he said. "He's a clinician at that stuff."
Indeed. Adu certainly was clinical in his approach Thursday night, connecting on a free kick in each half that put the U.S. team into the Beijing Olympic Games.
"We talked about keeping our fouls to a minimum around the box," Dasovic said. "Unfortunately, we did not follow our game plan. He's in front of the goal with that much time on the ball. He likes to pick a spot."
The U.S., which clinched its first Olympic berth in eight years, became the 15th country to qualify for the men's soccer tournament, joining Honduras, which survived a penalty-kick shootout with Guatemala in the opener, China (host), Australia, South Korea, Japan, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Brazil, Argentina, New Zealand, Netherlands, Serbia, Belgium and Italy.
A 16th team, from Africa, will complete the group later this month.
"It's a great, great thing," Adu said. "The Olympics is great. Everybody watches it. I watched it growing up. It's just an honor to represent your country in such a big event. I'm proud to have an opportunity to go and especially to go with this group of guys. It was great. There was a lot of hard work behind it."
Four years ago, Peter Nowak coached a 14-year-old Adu at D.C. United. The two fought at times while Nowak tried to teach the soccer phenom about being a professional player. It wasn't an easy learning process.
Adu showed flashes of brilliance and sometimes he moped and even criticized his coach publicly. He eventually was traded to Real Salt Lake and joined Portugal's Benfica last season.
During the qualifying tournament, Nowak has seen the fruits of his labor pay off as an older and wiser Adu -- he's 18 now -- has become an impact player.
"I think Freddy is starting to realize his potential," he said, "but he's starting to see the things we've talked about the last three or four years.
"We did work together for three years. I did understand from the beginning it was difficult for him to understand the bigger picture. He started to believe in his ability to change the game because sometime special players have this kind of ability. This is a good sign for the future."
Both of Adu's goals were set up by fouls on New York Red Bulls forward Jozy Altidore.
After defender Nikolas Ledgerwood fouled Altidore some 24 yards out on the right side, Adu sent a free kick toward the far post. The ball bounced once and Wagenaar managed to barely get his hands on in front of a charging Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), but he couldn't stop the ball's momentum into the far left corner kick.
"Peter, myself, Lubos Kubik and the rest of the coaching staff stressed in those kind of situations that you want to hit the ball hard on the goal. If the 'keeper never touches it, that ball is going into the back of the net," Adu said.
The Altidore-Adu tandem combined for the U.S.'s second goal three minutes into the second half.
This time Altidore was tripped 23 yards out on the right side by Canadian captain Andrew Hainault. Referee Walter Quesda (Costa Rica) awarded Hainault a yellow card, but Canada would pay even more dearly a minute later.
With six players in a defensive wall, Adu floated his free kick over the players and past a stunned Wagenaar, who hardly moved as the ball found its way into the upper right corner.
"They put enormous pressure on the backline," Nowak said of Adu and Altidore. "That was the key to the success tonight."
Kljestan got into the act with the USA's third and final goal in the 78th minute. Stuart Holden sent a short pass from the left side to the Chivas USA player and Kljestan penetrated further toward the goal before slotting the ball to the near left post from seven yards.
"We were beaten three-nil by a better team today," Dasovic said. "They were a little more confident than us in the first half. We started playing when we were down three-nil. It's easily to play when you're down."
Dasovic, who will watch the Olympic soccer tournament on TV, praised the U.S. team and program.
"I think they have the best team in CONCACAF, not just at the U-23 level, but the senior level," he said. "I'm a fan of the U.S. I live in Canada. I was raised in Canada. What they have done the past 20 years is remarkable. They're in the Olympics again and they'll probably be in the World Cup. That goes from having that infrastructure.
"Hopefully, one day we can match that. We're a ways away."
Dasovic, whose team did not have any shots on goal, wasn't finished.
"If you use the U.S. as a benchmark, you want to get where the U.S. is right now," he said. "Twenty-five years ago you guys weren't even close to us, in all honesty. Now it's gone reversed because of the money, infrastructure and the coaching, everything you have in this country. We have a lot to learn from you guys."
Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News and is editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
