PRO SOCCER Adu, 14, set for his MLS debut

He'll become the youngest athlete in a major American league since 1887.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Freddy Adu's calm and polished demeanor might just give way to a few 14-year-old butterflies come this afternoon.
"I wouldn't be surprised if all the nerves hit me at that point," Adu said.
Adu makes his much-anticipated regular season debut today, when D.C. United host the San Jose Earthquakes on opening day of the MLS season. Whether he starts or plays as a substitute, he'll become the youngest athlete in a major American league since 1887.
Only game on TV
It's the only regular season game on ABC's schedule. Viewers will be treated to a new soft drink commercial featuring Adu and Pele, the Brazilian legend to whom Adu is often compared. The league is even offering fans a chance to win the actual jersey Adu will wear in the game.
But is Freddy ready? Nerves aside, he certainly looked impressive in United's games against lower-division opponents in the recent Carolina Challenge Cup.
In three games, Adu scored one goal, set up a free-kick goal and drew a penalty-kick foul that wasn't converted. Even coach Peter Nowak, who had promised to bring the teenager along slowly, is promising Adu "a lot" of minutes early in the season.
"Freddy's going to play different parts of the field," Nowak said. "He is dangerous. He can come back, be on the wing, on the right, on the left, middle. We give him freedom. He's a good finisher."
Expected to be target
Adu can already maneuver the ball as well as many veterans, but his youth, size and $500,000 salary will no doubt make him a target. He took some brutal fouls while leading the United States in scoring at the under-17 world championships in Finland last year.
"Guys are going to go after him a little bit, for many different reasons," teammate Dema Kovalenko said. "It's our job to protect him."
Last week, San Jose forward Landon Donovan said, jokingly: "There's a bet going around in our locker room to see who kicks him first on Saturday."
But Nowak sees the jealousy issue as no laughing matter.
"I can smell this kind of stuff from my lawn," Nowak said. "I know what's going on in the locker room when this kind of stuff starts. I'm not going to tolerate any of that. That's the answer to the questions about jealousy on salaries and all the commercial stuff."
As for Adu, he has his own strategy to fight off the extra elbows.
"When the ball comes to me, I just have to do the one-, two-touch and keep it moving," Adu said. "When the right time comes, and you have a one-on-one, you take somebody on and take it. Every time I touch the ball, I'm not going to try to take on the whole team because that's how you get hurt. If I take care of business and do what the team game plan is, then I'll be fine."
Needs improvement
Adu is the first to say that his game needs improvement. This week, he confessed that he sometimes will "take plays off" instead of going back on defense. It's something nearly every attacking player does, but few like to admit it.
With the help of his mother and a sports psychologist, Adu has seemingly coped well with the outside distractions. Journalists, foreign and domestic, descended on United's practices this week -- about 75 reporters, cameramen and photographers were there Wednesday -- asking the same questions Adu has heard repeatedly over the last couple of months.
How does he handle the pressure of expectations? Where in Europe would he like to play? What about the doubters who claim he's not really 14?
Adu has learned to brush them aside with pat answers. Asked about the attention he's getting, he pulls out a tried but true clich & eacute;: "I just don't care about it. If I did, it would put a lot of pressure on me. The same people that are going to raise you up are the same people that are going to bring you down when you have a tough stretch."