Much ado about wise move

Freddy Adu was surprised by the greeting he received in Lisbon yesterday. The sports daily Record featured him on the front page with the headline "Son of Pelé" and dozens of supporters appeared, along with a police escort, as he was presented with the shirt of his new team, SL Benfica.

Adu has made the right move in going from Real Salt Lake to Benfica. He apparently was attempting to attract more money (the transfer fee is reportedly $2 million) from an even more prestigious club (Inter). Though the Record's superlative indicates impossibly high expectations for Adu, he actually will be measured by a realistic standard by Benfica.

Benfica last week sold Simao Sabrosa to Atletico Madrid for $27 million, and the club is searching for a replacement left winger and/or forward. The club quickly invested $8.2 million in Angel Di Maria and defender Andres Diaz (Rosario Central) and acquired Brazilian Juliano Belletti on loan from Barcelona.

Belletti is the likely immediate successor to Sabrosa. Adu, 18, will compete for a spot, as will Di Maria, 19, who played for Argentina's U20 World Cup champions.

And that is precisely why this move will be beneficial to Adu's career. This is the first time Adu will be in a situation in which the coach (Fernando Santos) will judge him purely on merit, how he relates to a well-defined system, and how he measures up to players with superior credentials.

Also, instead of being among the highest-paid players in the league, Adu will be just like any other Benfica player, making an average salary.

There are major upsides. Adu will be surrounded by proven players, a winning formula, and his technical ability will give him a chance to fit in. Also, the Portuguese Superliga is an excellent platform to launch a European career. Cristiano Ronaldo paved the way for young Portuguese players to Manchester United, and he has been joined by midfielder Nani, who arrived on a $33 million transfer from Sporting.

If Adu displays the right qualities, Benfica will use him. If not, it will find the right place for him, possibly loaning him to another club.

There have been few sporting upsets greater than Iraq's 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia in the Asian Cup final in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday. The Iraq team did not have a coach until two months ago and had to prepare for the tournament in Jordan. Once, the Iraq team bus was fired on by United States soldiers while traveling to a match in Kuwait. Last September, a kidnapping was reported of Ghanim Ghudayer, who had just signed a contract to play in Syria and was considered among the team's best young players. He reportedly hasn't been seen since. As team physiotherapist Anwar Jassim was leaving to join the players in Jordan, he was killed by a bomb.

Iraq's Brazilian coach, Jorvan Vieira, who has guided 26 club teams and five national teams in Asia and North Africa, dedicated the victory to Jassim and announced he would be departing to coach South Korea.

The Iraqi government has approved a $10,000 payment to each player and parliament has proposed awarding land in Baghdad to players. But Younis Mahmoud, who scored in the 71st minute of the final, is among those not likely to take up the offer to return.

"I am afraid to return home," said Mahmoud, who plays for Al Gharafa in Qatar. "I am afraid they will kill me and they will kill one of my teammates. Iraq is a destroyed country. I repeat what I said at the Olympics in Athens: The Americans must return home and leave Iraq in peace."

In a victory all of Iraq could identify with, Mahmoud, a Sunni, scored on a pass from Mulla Mohammed, the only Kurdish player on the team. Shiite keeper Noor Sabri earned the shutout, his fourth straight.

Iraq qualified for the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa. Among the participants will be the US, which won the Gold Cup last month.

SSC Napoli and FC Porto have entered the bidding for Giuseppe Rossi. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said the club plans to keep Rossi, but La Gazzetta dello Sport rates Rossi's chances of moving on at 80 percent and reports agent Federico Pastorello is visiting Manchester to make a deal.

Rossi, born in Teaneck, N.J., is earning $1.2 million annually, a low salary in proportion to the expected $16.5 million offer from Napoli.

Andrzej Niedzielan scored as Wisla Krakow defeated Sevilla, 1-0, to win the inaugural Chicago Trophy Cup before 18,682 at Soldier Field Sunday. The trophy was presented to the Polish club by Garrett Kelleher of Shelbourne Development and the trophy itself was designed by Santiago Calatrava, who also designed the Chicago Spire, which is to be the tallest residential building in the world.

The tournament, which also included Reggina (Italy) and Toluca (Mexico), was set up to promote Chicago as a candidate for the 2016 Olympics. It also signaled the entrance of Kelleher, who recently purchased St. Patrick's Athletic in Dublin, on the US soccer scene.