Quotesheet

Adu spurs excitement at MLS SuperDraft

D.C. UNITED FORWARD AND NO. 1 OVERALL SELECTION FREDDY ADU

On being selected No. 1:

"I knew it was coming, I knew what was going to happen. When I got called up everything just came down on me. I was speechless. It's such a great feeling. I'm excited, I can't wait to get out there and play. Things are happening to me right now that I never thought they would happen. I really never thought about it until when I got up there today."

On the significance of wearing the No. 9 shirt:

"I would have much rather had No. 11 but you can't always get what you want. It's Alecko [Eskandarian's] number and he's had it for a while. If you want something, you have to earn the right to have it."

On what he expects to learn from Peter Nowak:

"(As a player) he had to deal with the older guys knocking him around because he wasn't as strong as them. He's dealt with a lot of stuff I'm going to be going through. I'm sure he'll have a pretty good idea what that's going to be like for me. I have to go in and be humble and work my way up. You can't expect to start - you have to earn that. So that just starts with practice and it's a matter of continuing to work hard."

On talking to Nowak about outside influences:

"I haven't talked to him a lot about anything. I've spoken to him a couple of times and he seems like a great guy. I'm looking forward to really going into camp and working with him."

Speaking of his upcoming schedule:

"I'll be back at school, in Bradenton, all of next week. I go back on Saturday and I get back in school on Tuesday. I'm training with the U-17s down there until February 9. Then, D.C. comes in for preseason down there. I'm still going to be going to school in the morning and training with them (Under-17s) in the afternoons for training. I will not be training with the U-17s while D.C. is down there."

On the hectic nature of his life over the past few months:

"Right now I'm behind in school, so I have to catch up and try to balance those things out. I know it's not going to be easy but you have to do it. The last thing I want is to go home and be tutored ... I'm only 14 years old and now I'm done with high school and I'm playing professionally. I've got a lot of responsibilities now. With the help of my sports psychologist and my family especially, I'll be able to deal with it."

On being a D.C. United fan:

"I've been a fan of D.C. since I've been in this country. That's why I'm just extremely excited to be playing with them. I've always been a fan of D.C."

On a D.C. game he attended in the past:

"I went to a game when D.C. beat Chicago 2-1 at RFK. I don't remember exactly what year that was. It was a great game. Marco [Etcheverry] hit a beautiful free kick with his left foot, upper 90. It was awesome. Chicago was supposed to be one of the best and they always are one of the best teams in the League. I remember my friends and me just being so excited."

On his role in D.C. returning to championship form:

"Hopefully I can do something to help the team get back to its winning ways, because it is a winning team. In the first few years D.C. was the team to beat. I still think that we have the talent and the team to win year-in and year-out. Things don't always go the way that we want them to. Hopefully, I can do something to help the team."

On whether or not he was surprised about Peter Nowak being named head coach of D.C. United:

"No. I didn't really know anything about it and I didn't know he was in the race to be the coach of D.C. United. I wasn't surprised. The guy has proven himself in the League. What better person to have than, Peter Nowak? He's won MLS championships. He's been there, done that. He's the perfect person to hand his wisdom down to his players."

On which players he expects to help him adjust to life as a professional athlete:

"I don't know if I'm going to pick a specific guy, [I'm going to learn] from everybody, every one of those guys. I might tend to hang around the younger guys a bit more because I am young. I'm learning from everyone. Everyone I know is going to have advice for me, and it is up to me to do whatever I want with the advice they give me. I'm going to listen to it because some of these guys have been in the League for a long time. They know what it's all about. I know it's going to benefit me in the future."

On his preferred position:

"I prefer to play attacking midfielder or withdrawn forward. That's my strongest position."

On his expectations for the 2004 season:

"The thing I want to accomplish the most this year is to really earn the respect of my teammates. It's going to be hard. I just want to earn the respect of my teammates and then take it from there. I'm not going into the season expecting to dominate or to get right into the starting lineup. That's more for 2005 when I can have some more expectations for myself. It's important for me to get off to a good start and earn the respect of my teammates."

On whether he expects players to treat him as a 'marked man':

"I wouldn't be surprised if they did. They're supposed to, that's just part of the game. Yeah, I feel like I might have a big "X" on my back. That's part of the game. If you want to achieve something, you've got to work hard for it. There are going to be obstacles. It's a big challenge for me and I'm ready for it."

On whether or not he will finish school before joining D.C. United on a full-time basis:

"Yes, I'm going to finish school before I join the team full-time."

On being speechless at the podium:

"I'm in awe of everything that's happening to me right now. I never dreamed of all this happening to me. I always wanted to be a professional soccer player but I didn't know it was going to happen this way. I'm just like 'Wow, I can't believe all of this stuff'. It just kind of came down on me out there, I guess."

On which United players he feels closest too:

"I know Ben Olsen. I know Bobby [Convey] and Santino [Quaranta]. I know them a lot more than some of the other guys."

On whether or not he's had to carry Ben Olsen's shoes:

"No, not yet. I'm sure I will though. I'm ready for it. You can't say anything about it. I'll get the next guy."

On D.C. United's reputation for developing young talent:

"I think it's going to be great for me. D.C. has a reputation for developing young players into the best players they can be. I'm very, very, very excited because I look at Bobby [Convey] and Santino Quaranta. Bobby [Convey] went in when he was 16 and look at him now. Now he's one of the best players in the League. So I'm excited."

On his national team prospects:

"It really depends on how I do during the season. That's how I'll earn the right to be called up to a camp or something like that. So I just really have to focus on the season and just go out there and play. Let my play do the talking and everything else will take care of itself."

MLS COMMISSIONER DON GARBER

On Freddy Adu officially joining D.C. United:

"I think this thing has taken on a life of its own. It's a great story, he's a special young man, both on and off the field. I think the media, in this country, always look for a good soccer story. You see what happens when the Women's World Cup explodes on the scene and overdelivers in '99 on what people expected. And, certainly, in 2002 when people were getting up in the middle of the night, which even we, owning the television rights, didn't expect to happen.

"Now, Freddy comes and we're not billing him as the savior of soccer, that's not something one person could do. We're billing him as a great young talent that was being sought after by the great clubs around the world and somebody that will help us get the attention that this sport deserves. We hope that things settle down and we can get back to our business about running our League, a League with hundreds of players, great players both from this country and from around the world."

On his expectations of Adu:

"It's too early to tell, right now. He needs to settle in and start training with the team. They've got a new coach. They've got Kevin Payne coming back to pay close attention to the team. There are lots of things happening in D.C. that we hope will bring it back to the stature it had in the early years of the League. As they start organizing their team, they are going to have to see how Freddy fits in.

"If we looked in the long term, we do believe that Freddy will break through much of the clutter, if you will, that exists in sports today and give us some of the pop cultural appeal that the League has not been able to achieve in our eight and a half years, or nine years. We've never had the kind of attention in the non-sports press that we've had since Freddy signed with the League. Just yesterday, being on TRL (MTV), he's being taped for 60 minutes, interviewed by Sports Illustrated, a photo shoot with Vanity Fair, things with Nickelodeon, a full-page story in the USA Today. This stuff is unprecedented in soccer and, quite frankly, it's somewhat unprecedented in sport. We hope that that sort of appeal, that charm, that he has is something he never loses and we're able to manage that and hope that he performs on and off the field."

On whether Adu's popularity will be affected by how much he plays:

"He's 14 years old. I think we need to remind people that he's 14 years old. We have no doubts that, in time, he will be a great player in our League. And from everything that we keep hearing both from overseas and our coaches, the national team coaches, he has the potential to be a great player but we want that to happen slowly."

D.C. UNITED PRESIDENT KEVIN PAYNE

On what Freddy Adu means to the team:

"I don't think, in the history of our League, I'm not sure that anybody's had a player join a team that has had the marketing clout that Freddy's had. It's pretty remarkable the way he's just really hit a chord, and not just with soccer people, but with the mainstream. So it's a great opportunity for our organization (D.C. United) and for the League. And I think that Freddy's going to be a welcome breath of fresh air both on and off the field. We are all really excited."

On adding to what is already a team with many young players:

"We've got a core of young talent. We've got Bobby Convey and, obviously, he's one of the best young players in the League. And he was one of the best young players in the world at the Under-20 World Championships. We've got Alecko Eskandarian. We've got Santino Quaranta. We've got David Stokes. We've got seven players on our team who are either on the Under-20 or Olympic teams. So, we've got a core of young American talent and that's we intend to build our team around."

LOS ANGELES GALAXY FORWARD AND NO. 3 OVERALL SELECTION JOSEPH NGWENYA

On playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy:

"I am just excited. It is a great organization with great players. I'm just excited to be joining them. I hope I will be able to help them out."

On what he can contribute:

"I think my first year will be a learning experience. I hope I can help in any way I can. I hope I can get a few goals. That would be great."

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS FORWARD AND NO. 4 OVERALL SELECTION MATT TAYLOR

On his expectations for MLS SuperDraft:

"I had no expectations. At the end of the year, I was satisfied but not excited about my play. When they asked me to come out, I was a little confused. I thought maybe number seven. Besides that, they were telling me between No. 7 and No. 13. I would never have expected to go in the top five."

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER AND NO. 5 OVERALL SELECTION RYAN COCHRANE

On being selected in the SuperDraft:

"Right now, I'm just kind of startled, shocked, at least. I really wanted to come to San Jose, to play for San Jose. I'm so thankful that they've given me this opportunity. I'm looking forward to working hard this season and, hopefully, getting in there with the team and learning a lot of new things."

On joining the MLS Cup Champions:

"They are MLS Cup Champions and you can't ask for a better team to go to. They have some great veterans on the team and they have some great youth as well. I'm looking forward to building camaraderie with the younger guys on the team and also with the older guys on the team but also learning from the veterans."

DALLAS BURN MIDFIELDER AND NO. 6 OVERALL SELECTION RAMON NUNEZ

On the Burn's plans for him:

"I talked to Colin (Clarke) a bit before the Player Combine and he gave me the impression that he was interested in me. He's thinking about me going into the central midfield."

On training with the Burn this past year:

"I feel like I have a head start going into the Burn because I've trained with them for about a year already."

On the benefits of being drafted by Dallas:

"Basically, what we wanted was for me to stay in Dallas. Education is very important to my parents, so I'm going to be taking a couple of classes (while in Dallas). That's exactly what I wanted."

DALLAS BURN DEFENDER AND NO. 7 OVERALL SELECTION CLARENCE GOODSON

On his hopes on being drafted:

"Nothing's ever certain, but I was optimistic and things worked out."

On when he will see game action:

"I would love to play right away, but there's a transition period. They (the Burn) don't know me, so we've got to get to know each other."

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION FORWARD AND NO. 8 OVERALL SELECTION CLINT DEMPSEY

On being drafted by the Revolution:

"Everything's kind of going fast. I was very surprised to be picked up by New England. I was hoping to go to Dallas because it's close to home. I really thought that every place in MLS was a good place to be, that I couldn't go wrong."

On his hopes for next season:

"I just hope that I can get in the mix and get some playing time. Hopefully, I can bring some fans in. I'm looking forward to getting on the field and attacking."

On his skills:

"I think I have pretty good vision. I like taking players one-on-one. Hopefully, I'll get in some of those positions."

CHICAGO FIRE MIDFIELDER AND NO. 9 OVERALL SELECTION SCOTT BUETE

On his surprise at being selected in the first round:

"I didn't know if I should go up there, when they called me. I didn't know if I was going to go first round. I didn't expect that at all. It was a little bit of a shock."

On impressing coaches at the 2004 adidas MLS Player Combine:

"I felt really good at the Combine. Going into it, I knew how to play well, and I didn't get nervous. I went into it saying, 'Whatever happens, happens.'"

LOS ANGELES GALAXY MIDFIELDER AND NO. 13 OVERALL SELECTION JOSH GARDNER

On being selected in the second round:

"It's an honor. I'm very proud to have been drafted. Second round is still good. I didn't go in the first round, but it's no big deal. I'm looking forward to playing on a club that wants me. I'm very excited about that ... If they give me a shot, I'm going to go for it and hopefully produce for them."

On playing in Los Angeles:

"The Home Depot Center is beautiful. I know that there are a lot of soccer fans out there (in Los Angeles), and we'll probably get good crowds. That's very exciting."

LOS ANGELES GALAXY MIDFIELDER AND NO. 14 OVERALL SELECTION NED GRABAVOY

On being selected by Los Angeles:

"Richard Motzkin had said that Sigi (Schmid) was interested and that if I was around they would be interested in selecting me. I know Sigi's a good coach and they have a great staff and I'm really excited to be going there."

On the chance to play at the Home Depot Center:

"I was just out there at the Player Combine and I'm glad I'm going to have nice facilities to use, great soccer stadium and a great location. So I'm very excited."

On what he can bring to the team:

"I think that I can help bring possession and on the field, I think I see the field pretty well. I also think that I can contribute by being able to work hard and win balls back."

On what to expect from being a professional:

"I know that there's going to be a transition phase, realizing that I'm doing this for a living now. Obviously some things are going to change but as far as my hard work and dedication go, I'm going to keep that going."

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS GOALKEEPER AND NO. 17 OVERALL SELECTION WILL HESMER

On playing with Tony Meola:

"I'm just looking forward to training with him. I'm looking forward to pushing him to become a better goalkeeper, and hopefully him in return pushing me to become a better goalkeeper. Maybe in the next few years, whenever he decides to hang 'em up - or maybe beforehand - I can take over."

On recovering from a leg injury:

"First of all, I've got to get completely healthy. I'm rating myself at about 75 percent right now. I'm still having some trouble with my right quad. I plan to be ready. If not by February 1, then at least mid-February."

METROSTARS MIDFIELDER AND NO. 36 OVERALL SELECTION MICHAEL BRADLEY

On being drafted by his father's team:

"It's an honor to begin my professional career in New York. Anyone who plays soccer, when they're little, dreams of playing professionally. Now my dream has come true. I've seen the environment he [Bob Bradley] and Mo Johnston provide for the young players in New York, and I think I have a good chance to grow and develop there.

"He said to me yesterday, 'Not many sons and fathers can say that they've done something like this.'

On his father's role in coaching him during childhood:

"We always used to go out in the back yard and play, work on things, but he never 'coached' me. At games, he sort of took a back seat. He just enjoyed watching."

On becoming a MetroStars player after training with them this past summer:

"It'll feel good for me, knowing that before I always just tagged along with my dad. Now that I'm on the team and I have my own locker, it's an exciting feeling."

On the mix of veterans and young players on the MetroStars roster:

"I'm good friends with Mike Magee, Eddie Gaven and Ricardo (Clark). Having good friends who are pretty close in age on the team will help, and then there are the veteran guys like Eddie Pope. I think that mix helps any young player develop."

Courtesy of Major League Soccer.