Freddy Adu burst back on to the international scene today as he hit for three goals as the United States crushed Poland at the U20 World Cup in Canada. Adu did his magic at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal in front of 35,000 fans. Danny Szetela also added two goals and Jozy Altidore added one.
After a fortunate draw against Korea many were interested to see what the talented team would produce.
Adu’s goals were things of beauty as he put on an amazing finishish exhibition while playing in his natural role behind two strikers.
The U.S. end their group play against Brazil who lost to Poland 1-0.

Finally a coaches association for soccer!
Attend the inagural meeting of the Greater Houston Soccer Coaches Association on Saturday July 14th from 7pm-9pm at the Silver Eagle/Budweiser 8660 N. Eldridge Parkway (corner of 290 and N. Eldridge)
Keynote speaker is Mo Johnston former Celtic and Rangers star and current coach of Toronto F.C.
RSVP for this event at RSVP@HOUSTONDYNAMO.COM

While the U.S. may be drinking out of the Concacaf Gold Cup and have gained entry into the Confederations Cup in South Africa after beating Mexico it is “El Tri” that have posted both wins over Brazil and Ecuador in the Copa America and are headed to the semi-finals. With that the pressure is slightly off of Hugo Sanchez for the time being who has been beaten twice by the U.S. in the last six months.
For the U.S. it was clear they sent players to this competition to gain experience but it still is hard to take not seeing players like Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, DaMarcus Beasley and others in the Copa America. It is a familiar story for other star players in this tournament who are getting rested before heading back to pre-season with clubs in Europe. Yet it is still hard to stomach.
Some have performed admirably for the U.S. yet the overall quality is not there to compete with the likes of Argentina and Paraguay. We have seen some naive moments, moments of growth and moments of excellence. Houston Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark looked impressive against Paraguay and scored the equalizer.
Bruce Arena was quoted before the tournament as follows.
“I think they made a mistake going into Copa America. They didn’t plan properly in terms of how they would put rosters together and the end result doesn’t really make much sense.”
So Arena is critical of the roster that his good friend Bradley and U.S. Soccer put together and it doesn’t do much for credibility on the world stage but it may reap benefits towards 2010. Tough to not send your best to such a prestigious tournament.
Mexico on the other hand has two results and Hugo Sanchez may just have fallen into something.
Without Ricardo Osorio, Carlos Salcido and Pavel Pardo Sanchez has found back to back wins and probably could be annointed the next President of Mexico. And while the turn-around is rosy after the loss to the U.S. in the Gold Cup Sanchez just might be learning something about his squad at the Gold Cup. One thing should be clear and that is the all time leading scorer Jared Borgetti and Cuahutemoc Blanco’s time has passed and he should begin to phase others out for the future eventually.
Everyone will have their take on both teams in the Copa America. What is yours?