I couldn't ask for a better life.
Freddy Adu
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.
I honestly didn't expect this much attention, but it just keeps happening so I must be doing something right.
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'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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
You can't do anything to help your team win when you don't play.
I play a lot of Playstation, and always trying to look pretty for the girls.
When I'm out there on the field, I'm in a whole different world, you know? It's like, I'm just having so much fun.
What do I have to cheat for? I've always been playing against people older than me anyways. So what do I have to cheat for?
I need to go play football. I don't care about anything else.
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 just want to go in with the right attitude and from Day 1 make a difference.
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 don't want to be one of those guys where I go there and wait a long time before I become a starter.
When you get into the game you've got be thinking, when I get into the attacking third I'm gonna be freakin' creative.
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.
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.
