Thu, Sep 4th 2008, 12:19
Steven Goff- Washington Post
MIAMI, Sept. 3 — Another week, another team, another country.
Maurice Edu’s MLS season with Toronto FC was interrupted by a trip to China with the U.S. Olympic men’s team. He returned home for a few days, only to learn he needed to be in Scotland to finalize a deal with a new club, Glasgow Rangers. But before he could begin his European career, he was off to Guatemala with the U.S. men’s national team for a World Cup qualifier. Then, after being serenaded by Rangers supporters before a game against their fiercest rivals, he was on his way here to prepare for Saturday’s historic trip to Cuba.
“It’s been busy,” Edu said Tuesday, “but it’s been good.”
Like his recent travels, Edu’s career has been moving at a dizzying pace since he left the University of Maryland after his junior season. Until the past year, he was largely unknown in the U.S. soccer community, having never been selected for any of the youth national teams. Yet he now finds himself with one of Europe’s most famous clubs and in the mix for a spot on the 2010 World Cup team.
“As a young kid, you are playing and your [peers] are all part of those [select] teams,” said Edu, whose parents emigrated from Nigeria to attend U.S. colleges. “At times you get down, but at the same time it’s motivation. You see them doing it so you are like, ‘I train every day with these guys, I play every day, why can’t I be in this position?’ It made me work harder. I guess you could say everyone has their own course. For me, my time wasn’t then. Maybe I was a late bloomer.”