Columbus Crew SC Attacker, Fanendo Adi has disclosed that the allure of playing football regularly was among the reasons he jumped at the offer of playing in the United States’ Major League Soccer with Portland Timbers some seasons ago.
Adi moved to Europe with FC Trencin as a toddler and from there got the leap to Copenhagen of Denmark but he had to reconsider his stance after he found playing time hard to get due to undisclosed reasons.
The Venue born striker told foremost WhatsApp platform, Nigerian Sports Mouthpiece (NSM) in an interview with journalists that he opted for the MLS because he felt football is global and that a player could be scouted anywhere in the world if he continues to work harder and stays relevance.
“I first moved to Trencin when I was 16 years old and it was a great place for me to start as a player. I came in so young and the club saw me as an important piece of the puzzle and that they could develop my talent and be able to transfer me in the future.,” Adi opened up.
“It was a great place to start with a good environment. It was difficult to learn or speak the language at first but I got to meet some Argentines and some other people from different countries. I just had to relate and learn the language. It was a good place to start as a young player.
“I moved to Copenhagen where things changed. To cut the long story short I had the change to move to the United States. I have never had of Portland Timbers before then but when the opportunity came knowing that I wasn’t playing a lot at Copenhagen because of one reason or the other. I just have to take the opportunity.
“I didn’t know that I would stay long in the United States because my loan was just for six months. Coming out there in Portland Timbers team, the environment and playing in front of the crowd, it felt good and when the opportunity came for me to stay after just playing two games for the team. They were pushing very hard for me to stay with them.
“I think football is a global game and anywhere you play obviously scouts are watching you. For me, that was my idea knowing that I will have the opportunity to play in Portland Timbers was a very easy decision for me to make. I was young and I needed to play as often as possible to be able to get the transfer and everything I need in the game.
The former Portland Timbers striker affirmed that he was happy he took the decision to go the MLS and that his feat with the club had been written in the sands of time among numerous records he broke at the Canada based team.
“When the opportunity came for me to stay with Portland Timbers team, I took it, I didn’t think too much about it. If you look at it right now it’s been really good for me. It is an opportunity I think I didn’t make a mistake taken it.” Adi added.
“I am just happy I decided to stay with them. As you know now I am in the history books of Portland Timbers. Sometimes we make decisions and we don’t know the consequence of those decisions but as long as we work hard and believe in God and know that we are working hard I think things will turn out to be good. I made a decision and it has paid off and I am happy that I am still in the United States.”
