John Smallwood | Finally, there's much Adu about Freddy

I GAVE IN.

After complaining about watching the Gold Cup Championship game on a Spanish-language network, I broke down and paid the extra dollars to

upgrade the sports package on my satellite receiver.

That means I now get GOL TV, the exclusive English-broadcast rights-holder for the COPA America, where an American team minus many top stars was routed in three games.

Some bargain, huh?

An American soccer fan just can't catch a break.

Well, actually, I did because even though I upgraded specifically to watch the United States in the COPA, my sports package now includes channels devoted exclusively to outdoor sports,

action sports, motor sports, etc., and another of ESPN's umpteen channels, ESPNU, the one devoted to collegiate sports.

ESPNU has the broadcast rights for the United States games in the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup currently

being played in Canada, and the kids representing the Stars & Stripes are on a roll.

I'm watching the future of United States soccer, and it

appears bright.

On Thursday, the United States beat Brazil, one of the

pre-tournament favorites, 2-1,

in an electrifying game played

in Ottawa.

Brazil came out fully loaded

because it was in a situation where it needed a victory to guarantee advancement from the round-robin stage. But Team USA got two goals from 17-year-old Josmer Altidore to hold off the hard-charging Brazilians and win Group D.

The United States will play Uruguay in a round-of-16 game on Wednesday in Toronto.

"Any time for a developing

nation to beat the giants, the

traditional powers like Brazil, is important," Team USA coach Thomas Rongen said. "It's important to push [soccer] in our country to a higher level, and these games, and hopefully the attention that this game gets, will help that."

The United States kids have been brilliant thus far.

After tying South Korea, 1-1, in the opener, they routed Poland, 6-1, before beating Brazil.

The Under-20 World Cup might also be remembered as the coming-out party for former wunderkind Freddy Adu.

The play of Adu, the soccer prodigy who caught the world's attention as a 14-year-old, has been breathtaking.

Adu, now 18, has struggled while playing in Major League Soccer (currently with Real Salt Lake), but had a hat trick against Poland and also has three assists. He was credited with the assists on both of

Altidore's goals and got an assist on Danny Szetela's goal against South Korea.

Adu's second goal against

Poland, where he reversed field against defenders in the penalty area and curled a rocket in

the far corner of the net, was world-class at any level.

"We all knew that Freddy was a talented kid, and I felt he was ready to wear the captain's

armband and take on a leadership role with this team,"

Rongen said. "I couldn't be

happier with the way he has dealt with these circumstances.

"Beyond his skill, he always showed his desire, his heart. Great players succeed at the highest level."

Adu, Altidore (New York Red Bull) and 20-year-old midfielder Szetela (Columbus Crew) have all scored three goals in round-robin play. Goalkeeper Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake) stood strong against the waves of

attack from Brazil.

"We're not a team that always goes to the semifinals of these tournaments - those performances are exceptions," Rongen said. "Maybe this time will be

an exception, as we have such a talented group of players that could go very far in this tournament.

"They've proven that in the group, but in the knockout

stages anything can happen. Maybe we could do something special in this tournament."

Thus far, the performance of the USA at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup has been well worth the extra five bucks I've paid to be able to watch. *

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