Fredua Koranteng Adu (born June 2, 1989) is an American former professional soccer player who played as an attacking midfielder. The last club he played for was Ettan Fotboll club Österlen FF in 2021.
From before the time of his signing with D.C. United at the age of 14, Adu was spoken of as "the next Pelé." However, after leaving D.C. United in 2006, he became a journeyman, playing for fifteen teams in nine countries: the United States, Portugal, Monaco, Greece, Turkey, Brazil, Serbia, Finland, and Sweden.
At D.C. United, Adu broke several records. First, he became the youngest athlete ever to sign a professional contract in the United States at 14 years old, after he was selected by the team in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft in January 2004. Three months later, he became the youngest player to appear in a Major League Soccer (MLS) game when he came on as a substitute in a game against the San Jose Earthquakes, and on April 17, he became the youngest scorer in MLS history, scoring a goal in a 3–2 loss to the MetroStars.
Making his full international debut for the United States national team at the age of 16 in 2006, he has won 17 caps for his country and was a part of the US squads at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup as well as at the 2009 and 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cups. He also represented the United States Olympic team at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Early life
Adu was born and raised in the port city of Tema, Ghana, where he played soccer against men three times his age. In 1997, when he was eight, his mother, Emelia Adu, won a green card through the Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery, and his family moved to Rockville, Maryland, in the United States, where he attended Sequoyah Elementary School. In February 2003, he became a United States citizen. Soon after arriving in the United States, he was discovered by a local soccer coach and began playing with boys several years older. Adu attended The Heights School, a private school in Potomac, Maryland, for several years.
While playing with the U.S. Olympic Development Program in an under-14 tournament against the youth squads of such traditionally strong Italian teams as Lazio and Juventus, Adu's team won the competition, he led the tournament in scoring, and he was named MVP.
Club career
Signing with MLS
At the age of 14, Adu became the youngest American ever to sign a major league professional contract in any team sport when he was chosen by D.C. United as the number one overall pick in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. In order to allow Adu to play close to home, MLS assigned him to D.C. United on November 18, 2003, working a deal with the Dallas Burn, who owned the top pick in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. Dallas was compensated with a player allocation. Having already signed with D.C. United, Adu effectively became the first player selected in that draft, two months before it officially took place. D.C. United had previously signed American youngsters Bobby Convey in 2000 and Santino Quaranta in 2001—both aged 16 and the youngest players in MLS at the times of being drafted.
D.C. United
On April 3, Adu came on in United's first game of the 2004 season against the San Jose Earthquakes as a second-half substitute, making him the youngest player ever to appear in United States professional sports. On April 17, at the age of fourteen, Adu scored his first professional goal in the 75th minute of a 3–2 away loss against the MetroStars. In doing so, he became the youngest player in MLS history to score a goal.
In his first season as a pro, Adu finished the year with five goals and three assists, while playing in all 30 regular season games. Although briefly a starter, Adu was relegated to a substitute when D.C. United acquired central midfielder Christian Gómez mid-season, and it was in this role that he appeared in United's MLS Cup victory. He played in three of four playoff games for D.C. United, assisting one goal during that time.