Freddy Adu quotes:

My mom was always the supplier of soccer balls, and so people were always knocking on my door, and trying to get me out so we could play.

It's one of the best leagues in Europe in football. Benfica in my opinion is one of the top 10 biggest clubs in the world.

I would love to play for Real Madrid. And I want to win a World Cup for the U.S. so bad. When the women won it, everybody went crazy. I would love to be part of something like that.

I just want to go in with the right attitude and from Day 1 make a difference.

Sometimes I feel like my childhood has been taken away from me just a tiny bit. But if you want to achieve your goals, you have to sacrifice some things.

When you play soccer, most of the time you got to get the ball moving, but once you get into that attacking third you gotta' be creative, you gotta' let your talent take over.

I think everything happens for a reason and all the things that happened to me - good, bad - I'm glad they did. It's made me ready for life, for adulthood.

I mean, I couldn't ask for a better life, man.

Nothing has been given to me.

I wanted to get us a place of our own with a little bit more space. The kitchen is just huge, because my mom... lives there, man, and she loves being in the kitchen.

I'm going to go in and play, because the most important thing is playing on the field and being able to contribute. I really am ready.

I'm very young. This gives me a perfect opportunity to play for a good team and be close to home, to grow as a player. (on signing for D.C. United)

I don't know French at all. I took some lessons when I was younger but all I know are the numbers. I've been told basically everyone in Monaco speaks English because of it being a huge vacation spot so I'm excited about that. I might not need to learn French after all.

I'm not worried. My time will come.

Obviously, I'm at the beginning of my career, contrary to what anyone else thinks. I'm 19 years old. In any other country, everywhere else, you're a prospect. And that's what I am right now in Europe. I'm a prospect. I'm not a seasoned veteran.

I play a lot of Playstation, and always trying to look pretty for the girls.

When you get into the game you've got be thinking, when I get into the attacking third I'm gonna be freakin' creative.

I need to be in a stable environment right now in my career. What I mean by that is a place where I can play and not have too much pressure on me and a place I can develop. Monaco wanted me and did whatever they could to get me so I feel very very good about that.

All I can say is, hey, if you have fun doing what you do, if you have fun playing soccer, the creativity is just going to come as time goes on.

You can't do anything to help your team win when you don't play.

You can teach all the other stuff, you know. You can teach shooting the ball, you can teach having a good touch... passing and whatnot, but when you get out there on the field, it's just a mindset you need to go into the game with.

I couldn't ask for a better life.

It doesn't matter what size you are. It matters how big your heart is and how smart you are.

It's frustrating at times when you think you've earned a chance to play on the field and you're over there sitting on the bench. That's not the kind of player I am. I'm the kind of player who wants to be out there on the field and needs to contribute every minute of every game.

I need to go play football. I don't care about anything else.

I don't want to be one of those guys where I go there and wait a long time before I become a starter.

I've always been one of the youngest guys on the team. But now I'm one of the older guys, one of the more experienced guys, and I have to be more of a leader. The guys are looking up to me, asking me questions and looking at me to step up.

A lot of people have been hyped up to be great but just disappeared. I promised myself I wouldn't be one of them.

Obviously, everybody has their own expectations of you, but you have to have your own expectations for yourself. For me, I'm right on track.

I want to be good at what I do, obviously, and to do that I need to keep my head straight.

I've got a long way to go. I'm not in a hurry.

I need more time to develop as a player and as a person.

Once your name gets out, people just want to crack you.

There are some casual fans who think you're going to dominate a game, be magic, score 10 goals. Even if you dominate a game, you'll only score two or three goals.

A lot of players in Europe aren't as tall as the other guys, so they have to be stocky to physically compete.

If they asked me, I would have to say no. I made up my mind to play for the United States some day and I'm sticking to it. (on playing for Ghana)

It's awesome where I am right now. It's a lot of people's dream. I'm going to take full advantage of it.

If you're good enough, you're old enough.

This is unbelievable to me. I always wanted to be famous, be the best, but I didn't think it would be like this.

When you play soccer, most of the time you got to get the ball moving, but once you get into that attacking third you gotta be creative, you gotta let your talent take over.

I'm just trying to do whatever is asked of me. I've been thrown into many different positions. Sometimes I'm on the left. Sometimes I'm in the middle. Sometimes I'm up top. So you always have to be prepared. I'm learning a lot so hopefully I can keep getting better and better.

I feel the pressure but I embrace it. Whatever I have to do to make the sport catch on to other people, I'll do it.

It's not easy when you come in as the highest-paid player and you're 14.

My image is very important to me. I want to bring a good face to my family. That's the way I've been raised.

I need to have the ball at my feet. That's when I know anything is possible.

My only real job is to play well and do my job on the field. If I do that, all the other stuff will take care of itself.

When I'm out on the field, I'm not scared of anyone.

I do stuff that I don't even know I can do sometimes.

I haven't done anything yet, but I want to be the best in the world.

That's the dream. Being on the U.S. National team and winning the World Cup. I'll take the win anyway I can get it.

Sometimes I even amaze myself, and sometimes I do things that make me want to punch myself in the face.

It helps to have someone in the same boat as you... There's a lot of pressure, so it helps to have someone who's also young and famous and has a lot of pressure to succeed.