Revealed: Why Freddy Adu was snubbed from the 2006 USMNT World Cup roster as ex-teammate Jimmy Conrad says 'attitude' issues overtook teenage sensation

Speaking on the CBS Soccer podcast Call it What you Want, Conrad shared with co-hosts Charlie Davies and Jesse Marsch that during the buildup to the 2006 World Cup cycle, Adu ruined his chances of making the team. The legendary Kansas City defender revealed "attitude" issues overtook the teenager, and he purposefully showed a limited work ethic in training as a result.

Conrad explained: “Freddy Adu, this was his chance to make the World Cup team, January 2006. Bruce was giving him one last chance to make the team. We’re doing a fitness drill and Freddy Adu was behind our two assist coaches. He couldn’t even outrun Curt Onalfo and Glenn Myernick. At that point Bruce just wrote him off. He thought that because he got called in he didn’t have to earn it. And Bruce made the decision that that wasn’t the attitude that we needed.”

The 2006 World cup ended up not going to plan for both the USMNT and Adu. The U.S. finished last in the group stage with just one point, but somehow, managed a draw against eventual finalists Italy. Many - to this day - wonder what would have happened if an in-form and young Adu would have played, but in all reality, the USMNT were outclassed everywhere on the pitch during that stretch.

A January 20 international friendly against Slovenia is on the cards, with the January-Camp roster being announced Friday. The makeup of the personnel is a young core, with only six of the 25 players previously being capped by the USMNT.