Brian Straus connected with Freddy Adu, whose inclusion on the U.S. national team’s Concacaf Gold Cup roster was considered so unlikely that the U.S. Soccer Federation’s 2011 media guide doesn't include the 21-year-old among the 40-man national team player pool.

"I had no idea. I was just focused on helping my team in Turkey,” Adu said when asked if he knew he was being considered. “That was really what my focus was. I was just very grateful and very happy when I found out I was called up. ...

“There was a lot of things in the past, obviously, that I could have handled better than I did. That was partly my fault. Not partly. That was my fault. Like I said, I’ve learned. I’ve been listening to my teammates and my coaches and they’ve been a great help. I hope as time goes on, it keeps getting better both on and off the field.”

Interviews with Adu will be kept to the bare minimum, and he'll be disappointing his more than 424,000 Twitter followers with a Gold Cup blackout. "I'm here to play soccer. I'm a soccer player first and that's what I want to do," he said.