D.C. United's Freddy Adu was selected as the Honda MLS Player of the Week for the week ending May 8, 2005 (Week 6). In his second start of the season, Adu tallied two assists and his first goal of the year helping United defeat the visiting Columbus Crew 3-1 on Saturday, May 7 at RFK Stadium. At age 15, Adu becomes the youngest player ever to win the award and the first teenager since 2001 when DaMarcus Beasley -19 (Week 21), Landon Donovan -19 (Week 19), and Santino Quaranta -16 (Week 15) each won once.
Adu was the catalyst to United's first victory since the season opener by registering two assists within the first ten minutes of the game. At the five minute mark, Crew defender Chad Marshall was able to clear Brandon Prideaux's attempt at goal off the Crew goal line but not completely out of danger. Adu retrieved the ball just to the left of the Crew box and sent in a low cross that Jaime Moreno slotted in from close range to give United the 1-0 lead.
Four minutes later, Adu sent a through ball between two Crew defenders to teammate Ben Olsen on the right flank. Olsen sent in the cross to into the penalty box and midfielder Joshua Gros met it with a diving header that bulleted into the upper corner past goalkeeper Jon Busch. It was Adu's second assist of the game and third of the season.
"He had a very good week of practice and the most important thing is he started to believe in himself," United head coach Peter Nowak said of Adu to the Washington Post following the game. "I can see it in his eyes."
The Crew cut the D.C. lead to 2-1 with a goal on the 69th minute, but Adu would put the game away two minutes later with his first goal of the campaign. After receiving a long ball from Olsen on the right side of the Columbus box, Adu made a quick cut to his left past a defender and then calmly finished with a low shot off the base of the left post.
Adu was selected ahead of New England Revolution midfielder Clint Dempsey and FC Dallas' Ronnie O'Brien for the weekly award. The Honda Major League Soccer Player of the Week is selected every week throughout the MLS regular season by a panel of journalists from the Professional Soccer Reporters Association (PSRA).
2005 PLAYER OF THE WEEK WINNERS
Week 1: Edson Buddle (Columbus Crew)
Week 2: Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Week 3: Jon Busch (Columbus Crew)
Week 4: Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution)
Week 5: Amado Guevara (MetroStars)
Week 6: Freddy Adu (D.C. United)
