One-time phenom Adu on U.S. Gold Cup team

Here's an interesting subplot to this month's Gold Cup, the biennial soccer tournament among teams from the Caribbean and North and Central America: Freddy Adu is back with the U.S. national team.

Just turned 22 Thursday, the former child prodigy who quickly disappeared while American soccer continued to mature, Adu was the surprise addition to coach Bob Bradley's 23-man roster that will begin Gold Cup play against Canada in Detroit on Tuesday.

The 12-nation tournament will begin Sunday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with a Costa Rica-Cuba and Mexico-El Salvador doubleheader. The Americans' other first-round games will be against Panama in Tampa on Saturday and vs. Guadeloupe on June 14 in Kansas City. Quarterfinals are scheduled June 18 at New Meadowlands Stadium and June 19 in Washington, the semifinals in Houston on June 22 and the final June 25 at the Rose Bowl.

Adu, born in Ghana and raised in Maryland from the time he was 9, became something of a sports sensation after starring in the 2003 under-17 world championships. He was signed by Major League Soccer's Washington United later that year, still only 14, and debuted as a pro in April 2004 -- making him the youngest player on a major U.S. professional team in more than 115 years.

Since then, though, Adu mostly has bounced around Europe with lower-level clubs, and has been playing for Rizespor in Turkey's second division since January. Though in his eighth year as a professional, he has made only 15 previous appearances with Team USA, scoring two goals. He last played on the national team in the 2009 Gold Cup.

Yet his potential continues to pique interest from various quarters. Before the 2006 World Cup, Ghanaian officials attempted to talk Adu into playing for its national team. Adu declined. (And Ghana, it turned out, was responsible for eliminating the United States from both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.)

Bradley has said he wants to take another opportunity to see if, and where, Adu fits on a squad mostly composed of 2010 World Cup veterans. Aside from the prestige of ruling its region -- the United States has won five of the previous 10 tournaments -- the Gold Cup champion qualifies for the international Confederations Cup tournament.

Other up-and-coming players to be evaluated during the Gold Cup are Juan Agudelo, an 18-year-old Red Bulls rookie striker, Red Bulls defenseman Tim Ream and Illinois defenseman Eric Lichaj, currently with Leeds in England.

Tuesday's match will be the first time the U.S. team plays in the metropolitan Detroit area since its opening game of the 1994 World Cup at the Pontiac Silverdome. Just as then, grass is being installed over artificial turf for the game.