Maurice Edu

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Maurice Edu
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Maurice Edu playing for Rangers in 2011
Personal information
Full name Edu Maurice Edu, Jr.
Date of birth (1986-04-18) April 18, 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth Fontana, California, United States
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Midfielder, Defender
Team information
Current team
 Philadelphia Union
Number 8
Youth career
2004–2006 Maryland Terrapins
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Toronto FC 38 (5)
2008–2012 Rangers 96 (9)
2012–2015 Stoke City 1 (0)
2013 → Bursaspor (loan) 11 (0)
2014 → Philadelphia Union (loan) 31 (3)
2015– Philadelphia Union 22 (1)
International career‡
2007–2008 United States U23 6 (0)
2007– United States 46 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of September 28, 2015
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of April 3, 2014

Edu Maurice Edu, Jr. (born April 18, 1986) is an American soccer player who plays for the Philadelphia Union as a midfielder.

A highly touted prospect, Edu was the first overall pick in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft and won the MLS Rookie of the Year Award with Toronto FC. His performances for Toronto earned him international call ups to the United States national team and the attention of clubs in Europe. He signed with Scottish powers Rangers, winning the Scottish Premier League three times. Following Rangers' financial problems, he joined Stoke City; however, failing to make an impact, he spent time on loan with Turkey's Bursaspor before returning to MLS with Philadelphia.

Early life

Edu was born and raised in Fontana, California.

Edu played college soccer at the University of Maryland, College Park from 2004 until 2006 and played three years for the Maryland Terrapins, including a role on the 2005 squad which won the NCAA College Cup national championship. He forfeited his final year of NCAA eligibility to enter the 2007 MLS SuperDraft as a Generation Adidas player. He was named a first-team All-American in 2006.

Club career

Toronto FC

Edu cut short his time at college to join Major League Soccer and was drafted by Toronto FC as the first overall pick of the 2007 MLS SuperDraft. He made his MLS debut on April 25, 2007, against Kansas City Wizards, and he scored his first professional goal in the seventy-fifth minute of a game against Chicago Fire on May 12. During that first season he made twenty-five appearances in MLS and scored four goals. He ended his debut season by winning the MLS Rookie of the Year award and earning his first senior national team cap.

Rangers

On August 16, 2008, Edu flew to Glasgow to hold talks with Scottish Premier League team Rangers after a fee of £2.6 million, was agreed with MLS.[1][2] Edu signed a five-year contract with Rangers on August 17, 2008, but had to wait until five days later to officially join after successfully gaining a work permit.[3]

File:Maurice Edu 2.jpg
Edu Playing for Rangers against St. Mirren in March 2011

Edu made his debut for Rangers in a league match against Kilmarnock on September 13, 2008. The team won 2–1 thanks to a Kris Boyd double. Edu scored his first goal for Rangers on April 8, 2009, in a league match against St. Mirren and then followed his goal up with another against Hibernian in a 3–2 win at Easter Road eleven days later. He went on a run of games towards the end of the season including his Old Firm debut against Celtic on May 9 at Ibrox in a 1–0 Rangers win. He ended his first season in Scottish football by winning a league championship medal – having played in twelve of Rangers' thirty-eight games in the 2008–09 SPL season. However, a torn cruciate knee ligament saw him miss out on the Scottish Cup final.

After recovering from his injury, Edu returned for Rangers as a 74th-minute substitute in a 4–1 win against Hibernian on December 27, 2009, but only played four games before being sidelined for another month with an ankle problem. He had complained of racist abuse from two Rangers supporters after the club's 4–1 home defeat to FC Unirea Urziceni in October 2009.[4] Rangers came to the defense for Edu, condemding the Rangers supporters as 'moronic' and 'disgusting'.[5]

A turnaround in his fortunes began when he came off the bench to score a 93rd minute stoppage-time winner against Old Firm rivals Celtic on February 28, 2010, as Rangers won 1–0. On March 21, 2010, Edu came on as a half-time substitute when Rangers beat St. Mirren to win the League Cup Final. His domestic season ended with him being awarded a second league medal having appeared in fifteen of the thirty-eight games. During the 2010–11 season, Edu made his Champions League debut against English giants Manchester United at Old Trafford and drew plaudits for his performance.[6]

On October 20, 2010, he scored his first Champions League goal against Spanish side Valencia, converting from a Vladimír Weiss corner, but scored an own goal to equalise for Valencia minutes after the restart in a game that finished 1–1.[7] After the match, Edu told Sky Sports that he has a mixed emotion and said:The first goal I didn't have time to celebrate because I took a knock on the head and was laid on the ground for a while. The own goal, I saw it late and the next thing I know it hit me and it was in. I was trying to mark the guy in front of me and it looked like he was going to get it and at the last minute it hit me. That was obviously disappointing but we kept going and created more chances."[8]

Edu made his 100th appearance in all competitions for the Gers on November 5, 2011 in their 3–1 win over Dundee United.[9] During the season, Rangers was on administration over financial problems and dispute with HMRC, leading a 10-point deduction. On June 14, 2012, Rangers entered liquidation and were then sold to a new company, Sevco Scotland Limited, which was later renamed The Rangers Football Club Ltd after a failure to reach agreement with creditors. As months passed, manager Ally McCoist announced Edu and Alejandro Bedoya would possibly both leave the club[10] Edu was linked with a move to Ipswich Town but both claims was denied from the club[11] and himself, claiming he was unaware with a move to Ipswich.[12]

Stoke City

Edu agreed to join Premier League side Stoke City on August 25, 2012 signing a three-year contract.[13] Speaking following the move Edu revealed it is a 'dream come true' to sign for a Premier League side.[14] He had to wait until October 7 before he made his debut for Stoke coming on as an 80th-minute substitute in a 0–0 draw at Liverpool.[15] That 10-minute cameo proved to be Edu's only appearance for Stoke in 2012–13 under Tony Pulis, but he had hopes for a fresh start under new manager Mark Hughes.[16] However, Edu did not make any appearances for Stoke under the new manager, and did not even appear on the bench for the English side.

Bursaspor (loan)

After failing to break into the first team at the Britannia Stadium, Edu joined Turkish Süper Lig side Bursaspor on loan until the end of the 2012–13 season.[17] He played 12 times for Bursaspor as they finished in 4th position.

Philadelphia Union

On January 27, 2014 Edu joined Philadelphia Union on loan for the 2014 Major League Soccer season with an option to buy.[18] On April 5, Edu scored his first goal for the Union in a 2–2 draw against Chicago Fire. He made his move to Philadelphia permanent in January 2015.[19]

International career

Edu made his international debut for the United States against Switzerland on October 17, 2007, and won his second cap a month later against South Africa, where he registered an assist on Steve Cherundolo's winning goal. Edu was included in the U.S. team for the 2008 Summer Olympics. He played in all three of the group matches and deputized as a center back. Edu drew a penalty in the final game of the group stage against Nigeria which Sacha Kljestan took and finished. However, the U.S. were knocked out of the group stage after that loss. Edu scored his first international goal for the U.S. during of a friendly against Czech Republic on May 25, 2010.

Edu made only one brief appearance for the national team in 2009, as a stoppage-time substitute in a World Cup qualifier against El Salvador. That was his solitary game in the final stage of qualifying for South Africa. Despite this he was selected as a member of the 23-man roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. On June 18, against Slovenia, he volleyed in a free kick from Landon Donovan in the 85th minute with the game tied at 2–2, but referee Koman Coulibaly disallowed the goal. Coulibaly's decision was heavily criticized by commentators and columnists alike who believe that the United States committed no fouls on the play and were in fact the ones who were being fouled for the most part.[20][21][22][23]

Edu has continued to make appearances under Jurgen Klinsmann during 2011 and 2012. His appearances with the National Team however have diminished as Edu has been unable to get minutes with his club side, Stoke City.

International goals

Scores and results list USA's goal tally first.
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. May 25, 2010 Rentschler Field, East Hartford, USA  Czech Republic
1 – 0
2 – 4
 Friendly

Career statistics

Club

As of December 14, 2014[24]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Toronto FC 2007 Major League Soccer 25 4 – – – 25 4
2008 Major League Soccer 13 1 3 1 – – 16 2
Total 38 5 3 1 0 0 0 0 41 6
Rangers 2008–09 Scottish Premier League 12 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 16 2
2009–10 Scottish Premier League 15 2 4 0 1 0 0 0 20 2
2010–11 Scottish Premier League 33 2 3 0 3 1 8 2 47 5
2011–12 Scottish Premier League 36 3 2 0 0 0 4 0 42 3
Total 96 9 12 0 5 1 12 2 125 12
Stoke City 2012–13 Premier League 1 0 0 0 0 0 – 1 0
2013–14 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 0
Total 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Bursaspor (loan) 2012–13 Süper Lig 11 0 2 0 0 0 – 13 0
Total 11 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
Philadelphia Union (loan) 2014 Major League Soccer 31 3 3 2 – – 34 5
Philadelphia Union 2015 0 0 0 0 – – 0 0
Total 31 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 34 5
Career Total 177 17 20 3 5 1 12 2 214 23

International

As of December 14, 2014
United States
Year Apps Goals
2007 2 0
2008 8 0
2009 1 0
2010 8 1
2011 12 0
2012 11 0
2013 3 0
2014 1 0
Total 46 1

Honours

Club

Rangers

Individual

Personal life

Edu is the son of Nigerian immigrant parents. His father, Maurice Sr., was a mathematics teacher, and his mother is a chemistry teacher. Edu has three sisters and a brother Reggie Edu.[25]

Edu has a younger brother Reggie Edu, who is a Teacher, Coach and Director of Coaching for the southern Californian youth soccer club Newcastle United FC out of Upland, CA, and three older sisters.[26] He featured alongside Guillermo Ochoa and Ronaldinho as one of the FIFA 09 cover stars in North America.[27]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Brooks Peck. "Referee costs U.S. win, can't stifle massive comeback for draw" Yahoo! News. June 18, 2010.
  21. ↑ Controversial Finish Leaves US With Draw, ESPN
  22. ↑ Bradley's late goal follows Donovan score as U.S. salvages draw, ESPN, June 18, 2010.
  23. ↑ Robbed at the World Cup! Late goal disallowed as US forced to settle for 2–2 draw with Slovenia
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Morgan Campbell: The pro athlete who almost wasn't at The Star, October 14, 2007. He cites Darren McGregor and Andrew Prentice of the Scottish Football side The Bellshill Bears as the people who inspired him to play the beautiful game.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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