CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — Freddy Adu liked the attention. He liked running around soccer fields and trying fancy ball tricks. He liked shooting, he liked scoring and he liked messing around with teammates.

Adu knew some veteran players didn't appreciate a kid who was trying to have fun — and who was making more money than most of his teammates.

"It was hard," Adu said in an interview with The Associated Press, "because I felt like the creativity was being coached out of me."

The creativity is still there. Now older, wiser and starting to play more often with the U.S. national team, the 19-year-old feels more comfortable.

"At times, I wasn't always welcomed with open arms," Adu said. "That was definitely the hardest part, was having to deal with a little bit of — quote, unquote — jealousy from some of the older guys because they had been there, done that, and I was getting a lot of attention."

Adu figures to be a part of the U.S. team at this summer's Olympics and could play a role in World Cup qualifying, which resumes with the regional semifinals starting Aug. 20 at Guatemala.

The path has not been easy for him.

At 14, Adu was the youngest player to sign with a Major League Soccer team. He was getting constant attention. Some media outlets dubbed him the next Pele, who would make Americans fall in love with U.S. soccer. Adu's MLS debut was nationally televised on ABC. His first playing time was national news.

It was overwhelming.

Adu was, admittedly, a carefree kid who just wanted to enjoy the spotlight. He had a tough time dealing with all those off-the-field issues and used a sports psychologist at IMG Sports Academy and Michael Johnson, a retired world-record-holding sprinter, to help him get through.

The hype was there even before the teen signed an MLS contract — Nike gave him an endorsement contract at age 13 said to be worth $1 million. Adu had four goals at the 2003 FIFA Under-17 World Championship, months before signing with D.C. United. He was a celebrity, which he loved, but Adu said some of his teammates mistook youthful exuberance as arrogance.

"I was a confident little kid on the field," a bubbly and beaming Adu said at practice last week ahead of the U.S. team's World Cup qualifier at Barbados. "I thought I took chances on the field and people took that the wrong way. They took it as me trying to show off and what not."

Looking back, the phenom — he's currently the youngest player on the U.S. roster — says the experience helped him. And even though the spotlight has dimmed, Adu is happy to be on the new-look U.S. team, which hopes to rebound from its first-round exit of the 2006 World Cup.

Coach Bob Bradley, who replaced Bruce Arena after the World Cup, thinks Adu needs a bit more experience to play well at the national-team level. But he does see potential in the Ghana native, who assisted on Eddie Lewis' goal in Sunday's 1-0 win, which completed a 9-0 aggregate victory.

"We've seen a lot of young athletes in different sports that when they come on the scene, they get a lot of attention and he was one of them," Bradley said. "When the spotlight is on like that, just learning every day what you need to do to become a better player, earning the respect of your teammates — all those things sometimes become second to the spotlight and I think now Freddy has seen the bigger picture. He is maturing. It is a process."

Adu, who is most likely a lock for a spot on this summer's U.S. Olympic team, says he is surrounded by experienced talent and encouraging teammates.

Regardless of who is coaching, Adu is satisfied to be on a stable team. Since joining the pro ranks, Adu's career has been on a rocky road.

After playing for D.C. United for three years, the midfielder was traded to Real Salt Lake. He then negotiated a transfer to Portugal's Benfica, where he saw little play last season.

"Going to Europe took him out of the U.S. soccer spotlight a little bit and put him in an environment where he had to earn respect every day," Bradley said.

Bradley is pleased Adu is being given the chance to be in a stable environment and says the youngster needs "a consistent message every day."

Adu says he's getting that message.

"I'm still young and I'm the youngest guy on this team," Adu said. "But it's easy to play with these guys. I just keep my mouth shut and just try to lead by the way I play."