Then again, not every teen earns close to $1 million and boasts a rock star persona - declarations of "I love you Freddy" from high school girls punctured the air during summer training camp in Southern California.

No, Adu is going back to the young days of age 14, when he joined D.C. United as the youngest player to take a Major League Soccer field. He was a more aggressive player back in the day, taking on defenders.

The revelation came recently while watching film of his U-17 days with the U.S. National Team.

"I thought about it, 'Why did I change, why am I not doing that anymore?,' " said Adu a day after scoring his first goal for Real Salt Lake during the team's 2-1 loss at FC Dallas on Sunday.

"When I was with D.C., I was told to play one, two touches. I was also really scared to make mistakes. When you're in and out of the lineup, it really messes with your head."

The change in Adu's play came into focus during RSL's 1-1 tie at the Colorado Rapids, a team Salt Lake will meet Wednesday in a U.S. Open Cup game at 7 p.m. Only a strong save prevented the charging Adu from scoring his first goal of 2007.

A week ago, while playing for the United States against Argentina in a 1-0 loss, Adu again created a point-blank chance from the midfield, then followed that by whacking the crossbar from 30 yards out. Adu and RSL goalkeeper Chris Seitz each played 90 minutes.

Sunday against Dallas, RSL teammate Atiba Harris' play created a penalty kick, and Adu completed the game-tying opportunity in the 68th minute with a risky center shot that beat goalie Dario Sala, who was diving left.

The Hoops scored the game-winner less than 20 minutes later when Chris Gbandi launched a pinpoint shot into the upper corner of goal, as RSL (0-3-4) remains winless and in last place in the Western Division with four points.

"It's funny," Adu said of the goal, "[Sala] was telling me, 'I've seen you take too many penalty kicks. You're going left, you're going left.' I put the ball right down the middle."

Adu credited his new aggressive play in part to RSL coach Jason Kreis, who is giving him more freedom to go forward, attack without having to fear being pulled for losing the ball.

"Freddy has been pretty good for stretches of games," Kreis said. "I'm still looking to have him involved for a full 90 minutes for every game. In the second half, he played quite well."

The first half was a puzzle to Kreis, as RSL, following a 10-day break, played as if it had competed for 90 minutes the day before. Real Salt Lake was slow to the ball and failed to connect with any consistency.

"It looked to me that the guys were either tired or just weren't up for it," Kreis said afterward. "Both are unacceptable for different reasons. If they were tired, then we need to figure out a way to train them so that they're not tired for the match. If they just weren't up for it, then we have to figure out ways or to find people or who are up for it."

Adu, who played 90 minutes Tuesday, admitted that it took a while to find his legs.

"As a team, it looked like the guys were tired," he said. "Hopefully, we were tired, because we didn't play very well in the first half. Everybody was disappointed. For me, it's starting to get frustrating. But at the end of the day, we're only seven games into the season and we should panic. I'm doing everything I can to help get the team a win."

As for his first goal, although Jeff Cunningham takes RSL's penalty kicks, the Salt Lake striker had been subbed for earlier and Adu said he just grabbed the ball.

"When you're feeling it, when you have confidence, you do it," he said.

For team looking for any positive it can get, a confident Adu can't hurt.

Briefly: RSL could make a decision on Richie Kotschau, a nine-year MLS veteran defender, as soon as today. Kotschau has played with four MLS teams, including 26 games with Columbus in 2006 before breaking a leg. Injuries will play into the decision, as midfielder Carey Talley injured a knee in the early moments of Sunday's game. He was flown to Salt Lake City on Monday to meet with the team physician. Also, defender Willis Forko injured a hamstring, and is doubtful for Wednesday's U.S. Open Cup game.

martyr@sltrib.com

RSL at Colorado

WEDNESDAY, 7 p.m.