Freddy Adu: Young and Black in America
American Prodigy: Becoming Great
English - December 01, 2020 08:15 - 30 minutes - 27.7 MBSoccer Sports Society & Culture Personal Journals grant wahl the nineties freddy adu dc united mls pele prodigy soccer sports us soccer Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
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Not even Freddy was ready for the passionate response to him from Black Americans, many of whom had rarely engaged with MLS or soccer before. American soccer has long been a country-club sport—largely white and upper-middle-class—but Freddy's race, potential and extreme youth helped make him a cultural touchstone who transcended sports. They also left him virtually alone in locker rooms full of white men old enough to be his father. Grant Wahl saw a teenager constantly surrounded by media, teammates and fans, but was he really connecting with any of them?