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This was always supposed to be Freddy Adu’s year. And Freddy Adu’s World Cup.

From the surreal moment in May 2003 when Nike pulled out its pocketbook and slapped a cool million dollars on the back of a precociously talented ninth-grade soccer sensation, Adu was earmarked for success in 2010. Back then, it was not a case of if the Ghana-born, Maryland-raised 13-year-old would emerge as a superstar, but when. While the 2006 World Cup in Germany was seen as being too early, there was little doubt that by 2010 he would be happily ensconced at a major European club and be ready to spearhead the United States’ challenge in South Africa.