The similarities are there. Growing up in Africa and moving to the U.S. and gaining citizenship. An attacking midfielder with pace and the on-ball skills to match. Competing with the U-17 team against international competition and dominating. He’s been on the U.S. soccer radar for a couple of years, and now he’s just getting some real exposure thanks to Europe. Oh, did I mention he’s just 14-years-old. That’s the same age as Freddy Adu when he blew up.
Not to mention, Adu is his idol.
Charles Renken is that man. I mean boy. It’s about time for him to blow up, but the question is can he handle the exposure? The “future star,” who grew up playing barefoot in Zambia with soccer balls made out of plastic bags, has recently been getting looks from Europe, the latest of which has linked him to European power Arsenal. Ironically, it’s an Arsenal DVD which he’ll study for hours.
He’s quickly moved up the U.S. youth soccer ladder and last December is when he began making a name for himself. He made his mark on the Nike Friendlies, helping the U.S. to wins against Brazil and Russia just weeks before turning 14. There’s chatter that he could have already been in Europe developing if it weren’t for an ACL tear eight months ago. Now back and healthy, the chatter is back about this kid.
He may very well be extremely talented and a tireless worker rather than just relying on his raw talent, like his idol has tried to do in the past, but I’m still praying that this exposure will not go to his head. He appears to be level headed, but you never know when it comes to teenagers and fame. Adu has been getting caps with the national team, but his progress was greatly hindered in the past because of too much exposure. Is Freddy mania about to happen all over again? For the sake of U.S. soccer’s future, I sure hope not. Keep this kid’s exposure to a minimum and let him develop like rest of players. Let’s just hope coaches in the U.S. don’t take the creativity out of him before he heads to Europe.
Here's the first major article to be written about Renken:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=571292&sec=us&root=us&&cc=5901
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Another Adu?
Posted by uisjmc mitchell at 8:38 PM
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3 comments:
Interesting post, I've never heard of this guy.
I hope he's not as hyped as Adu was, Adu is never going to live up to the expectations that were placed on him.
He's a good player now, but will never be a Christiano Ronaldo or Ronaldhino.
Where can I find more information on this guy???
Sorry I forget to link the article that recently came out from ESPN. I will update teh blog with it. It's very interesting and will give you a good understand of the kid.
I agree. Adu was and always will be overrated. It's actually kinda sad because he really could have been a superstar if he hadn't been thrust into the limelight so soon.
Hopefully this new kid can learn from him and take it more slowly. Regardless of how good this guy is though, I really doubt he's ever gonna live up to Ronaldinho or Ronaldo's name.
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