Born in Ghana,West Africa,in 1989,Freddy Adu has become one of the most promising young soccer players in the world.Soccer fans have been crazy about him since 2003,when he became the youngest player to join a professional sports team in the United States.The next year,he became the youngest athlete ever to play in an allstar game,a match in which the best players from many professional teams compete. As a child,Adu did what many children in Ghana love to do--play soccer.His mother recognized her son's talentand encouraged it by providing soccer balls,which were expensive for them.Since he had soccer balls,other children always came looking for him and played together. Education was very important to Adu's mother,and she wasn't sure that her son could receive a good education in Ghana.So she tried hard and moved to Maryland,U.S. in 1997,when he was eight years old.His new school friends soon noticed his talent for soccer,and the parents of one friend encouraged him to join a soccer club.This was his first time playing organized soccer,and he helped his team from the Potomac Soccer Association win a tournament in Italy in 2000.One professional Italian team was so impressed by Adu that they offered him $750,000 to play for them.Adu's mother refused the offer and thought that her eleven-year-old son needed to finish school first. Adu did finish high school at the age of 14.Nowadays,he is playing professional soccer and living with his mother in a house he bought for her.His salary with the D.C. United team is $500,000 a year,and Adu is also paid to advertise products such as sports shoes and drinks.Adu is happy that his mother no longer has to work at two jobs,and his fans are happy that they can watch him play their favourite sport for many years to come. Freddy Adu was   _   years old when he became the youngest ever allstar team player.
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