By Michael O'Shea

First there was Chris Leak in high school football, then LeBron James in boys basketball. Now comes the PARADE Player of the Year in high school boys soccer---Freddy Adu of Potomac, Md. Freddy, who may become one of the best ever to play the game, was the youngest PARADE High School All-American in any sport when he made our team last year as a 12-year-old freshman. This year, at 13, he already is dominant.

"Freddy plays like a 20-year-old," says John Ellinger, coach of the Under-17 Men's National Team. "He has unbelievable moves and explosive speed. In exhibition games with Major League Soccer teams, he made experienced professional defenders trip over their own feet trying to stop him from scoring."

Freddy leads an all-star squad of 35 boys from 16 states on our 25th annual All-America High School Boys Soccer Team, chosen with the help of coaches, scouts and recruiters. California leads with seven players. Thirteen are repeaters from last year's team. To be eligible, a boy must play soccer for his high school, a club or a soccer program.

Freddy started playing soccer barefoot as a 3-year-old in his native Ghana. "I never played in shoes until I was 8, when we moved to the United States in 1997, after my family won a green-card lottery," Freddy says. "My mom wanted a better education for my younger brother, Fro, and me." His soccer skills lay dormant until one day in fourth grade, when his classmates got him to play in a soccer tournament. In no time, Freddy was the talk of the soccer world.

It wasn't long before he was getting offers from shoe companies and Eu-

ropean soccer clubs. But his mother, Emelia, turned them all down. She has Freddy in full-time residency with the Under-17 National Team in Bra-

denton, Fla., where he attends the Edison Aca-demic Center and is on an accelerated program. He will graduate from high school next year. Since 1999, the program has selected the country's best young players to eat, live and breathe soccer full-time. It has turned out some very promising pro players, such as Landon Dono-

van and DaMarcus Beasley, both PARADE All-Americans.

Playing in 35 of the Under-17 team's 66 matches in 2002, Freddy was second in scoring with 22 goals, and he had 11 assists (tied for the team lead). Freddy scored in six straight games in December, and he had four goals and four assists in his first five Under-17 international matches this year. He scored both of his team's goals on Feb. 12 in a 2-1 exhibition victory over the Chicago Fire, a Major League Soccer team.

"I love playing soccer for the United States," Freddy says. And this country is lucky to have him.

The Best Of The Best

Top Midfielder

As a member of the Dallas Texans soccer club team, Ramon Nunez dominated at midfield. "Ramon is the best young attacking midfielder in the country," says Coach Schellas Hyndman of Southern Methodist University. "He has great ball skills, vision and can make things happen." Ramon, who trains with a Major League Soccer team, the Dallas Burn, will finish high school a year early and attend Southern Methodist University in the fall.

Top Defender

Our top defender, Greg Dalby of Poway, Calif., was also the California Player of the Year and Gatorade National Player of the Year. As co-captain of the U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team, Greg started in all 13 matches in 2002, leading a defense that gave up only three goals in its last seven matches. By going to summer school and taking extra classes, he will graduate high school a year early. He will be playing for Notre Dame this fall.

Top Goalie

Andrew Kartunen of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., has played for U.S. national teams since he was 14. As our top goalie, Andrew had 37 wins and only 4 losses last year for the Irvine Strikers club team, the Under-17 national champs. Andrew only gave up an average of .60 goals a game. He was voted best goalkeeper and won the Adidas Golden Glove Award at the 2002 Snickers U.S. Youth National Championships in Boyds, Md. He will be going to Stanford this fall.

NAME............................HOMETOWN.................Year

FORWARDS (12)
Freddy Adu.................Potomac, Md............................Soph.
Eddie Gaven.................Hamilton Square, N.J..............Sr.
Adam Cristman..........Glen Allen, Va............................Sr.
Corey Ashe..................Virginia Beach, Va. ..................Sr.
Chad Barrett ...............Beaverton, Ore........................Sr.
Nathan Norman..........Rochester, Mich.......................Sr.
Jamie Watson..............Coppell, Tex.............................Sr.
Michael Harrington......Greenville, N.C..........................Sr.
Jacob Peterson............Portage, Mich..........................Sr.
Robbie Rogers..............Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.......Jr.
Michael Bradley.............Pennington, N.J........................Jr.
Rodrigo Hidalgo............West Palm Beach, Fla............Jr.

MIDFIELDERS (12)
Ramon Nunez................Dallas, Tex..............................Sr.
Danny Vazquez.............Miami, Fla. ..............................Jr.
Guillermo Gonzalez........Paramount, Calif. ..................Sr.
Patrick Ianni....................Lodi, Calif. ..............................Sr.
John DiRaimondo...........St. Louis, Mo..........................Sr.
Brian Grazier..................Edwardsville, Ill.......................Sr.
Danny Szetela................Clifton, N.J..............................Soph.
Steve Curfman................Raleigh, N.C............................Sr.
William Hall.......................Shirley, N.Y.............................Sr.
Ryan Solle.........................Broadway, N.C.....................Sr.
Jose Gomez.....................Inglewood, Calif.....................Sr.
Chase Wileman.................Dallas, Tex.............................Sr.

DEFENDERS (8)
Greg Dalby........................Poway, Calif...........................Sr.
Jonathan Spector...........Arlington Heights, Ill..............Sr.
Brandon Owens...............Murrieta, Calif.........................Sr.
Adrian Chevannes............Fort Worth, Tex....................Sr.
Chris Germani...................Yardley, Pa..............................Jr.
Patrick Phelan...................Enfield, Conn...........................Jr.
Michael Zaher....................Las Vegas, Nev.....................Jr.
Kyle Helton........................Alpharetta, Ga.......................Sr.

GOALKEEPERS (3)
Andrew Kartunen.............San Juan Capistrano, Calif...Sr.
Phil Marfuggi......................West Windsor, N.J.................Sr.
Jason Landers..................Lower Gwynedd, Pa...............Jr.