Ice Cold Assassin

As the sun set behind the mountains of Denver, the temperature on the pitch dropped to a frosty 35-degrees. But, as the thermometer dipped, Freddy Adu’s game caught fire. On a night where Guatemala’s chance at qualification hung in the balance, it was the States, Freddy in particular, who came out determined to make a statement.

After 45 minutes of nil-nil soccer, the MNT came out of the locker room hungry to finish the half-chances they had squandered earlier. And, they wasted little time in finding the back of the Guatemalan net when a fluid move forward was capped off with a far-post finish in the 54th minute.

Then the final nail in the coffin: With ice in his veins, Freddy stepped up to a 22-yard free kick and smacked a curling, left-footed shot around the wall and directly into the roof of the goal. The shot in the 69th secured victory for the US and gave Adu his first career goal for the full national side.

The US now enters the Final Round of qualifying and will learn their 10-game schedule at the FIFA drawing in South Africa on November 22 (this will also be the draw for the Confederations Cup).

After the game, we had a chance to chat with the Man of the Match, Mr. Adu, to get his take on the future of the team and to talk us through his lethal strike.

So, what was going through your head as you prepared for that free kick?
First off, we had it set up with two other guys to make it look like they were going to take it and we had two guys on the end of the wall. On my first free kick the keeper cheated to the near post, so I figured he was going to cheat again. So I took a chance and just hit it hard to the far post and it worked out right.

How much do you work on free kicks in training?
A lot. A lot. I hit probably 25 to 30 free kicks after training every day. It’s a great feeling when you work hard at something and then it pays off.

This was a much younger team tonight. How did you think the young guys came together?
I think we played together great. We came together and worked really hard as a team to get this win. Everyone took care of their individual part of the field and a lot of guys had good games for us. So, hopefully, these younger guys will get more call ups in the future.

How do you personally build off the momentum of this win and your great goal as you rejoin your club in France?
I gotta keep it going. I know the coach and the president of the club were watching today, and before I left for this game the coach told me I had been doing great in training. He hinted that I might be getting a start soon. So, hopefully, this game helps get me out on the field more for my club.

What are your thoughts as you look to 2010?
Well, first we gotta get in. So, hopefully, we’re there and I’m in the team. And, with guys like Beasley, Landon, Gooch and Carlos, I think we have a great team. And, if we’re not intimidated by anyone, we’re going to do fine, because we’re very athletic and fast, and we’ve got physically imposing guys in the back. So as long as we go out there with the right mentality, we should be OK.

Thanks Freddy for your time and best of luck in the future.
Thank you. It’s my pleasure.

We also want to give a big thank you to all the fans who braved the cold temps to root the US on to victory. A huge thanks goes out to The American Outlaws and Sam's Army. We couldn't have done it without you.