Former USA prodigy Freddy Adu has been named in Bob Bradley's 23-man squad for this summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The 21-year old Benfica forward has been in solid form on loan with Turkish club Caykur Rizespor in recent months and Bradley said that his call-up has been well-deserved.
"We've watched him a number of times on the computer. We watched one of his playoff games this morning,'' said Bradley. "There are good signs.
"Freddy's a player who's shown us in the past qualities that help our team. They haven't always added up to enough, but this seemed like a good opportunity to get him back in, challenge him and hope he's grown and matured and is ready for a role.
"It's an opportunity that's been earned. Even because decisions didn't go his way at times didn't mean in our minds the story was over. We never though the story was over.
"But now well find it where it sits right now. Just because we size it up again doesn't mean it's all there, either. There are still challenges for Freddy, still things we all need to assess.''
Bradley added: "Freddy had fallen out of the scene. And typically playing in the second division in Turkey doesn't bring you back into the scene.
"He's a player we all know has shown some soccer abilities that are special. He hasn't always been able to make them count in different situations and at different levels.
"But we respect the fact he made this move to go to as smaller club because he had to show people he was willing to do whatever to keep going. As a coaching staff we've discussed it and are looking forward to seeing how he's handling things, a maturity to show the experiences along the way have been measured and he understands it all needs to come together to move along."
