RANCHO CUCAMONGA — Denied his moment at a World Cup, Maurice Edu acknowledges that the game has given him so much more than he could have imagined.
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The former United States Men’s National Team midfielder and current television analyst, Edu was back at his high school alma mater Friday night as Etiwanda retired his No. 9 jersey.
“This doesn’t happen that often in soccer,” said Edu, a 2004 graduate of Etiwanda. “It is incredibly humbling because it is such a rarity in our sport.”
Embraced by his family and friends and surrounded by Etiwanda’s next generation of soccer players – including nephew Elijah, a junior in the program – Edu spoke to the crowd about big dreams rising from earnest beginnings.
“Sometimes you have dreams and at times they can seem far-fetched because there isn’t a role model for you but hopefully, in 20 years-time, I’m here celebrating one of you,” he said.
PATHWAY TO THE GAME
The son of Nigerian parents, a soccer ball was rarely missing from Edu’s youth environment.
“My pathway was my parents, and they come from a country where (soccer) is the No. 1 sport,” Edu said. “From the moment you’re born there’s a ball around you.”
Born in Fontana, the Edu family moved from San Bernardino early in his life to settle in Rancho Cucamonga as his mother, Molly Edu, became a long-tenured chemistry and science instructor at nearby Eisenhower High in Rialto.
“My reality is for as long as I can remember there was a ball in the house, and going to watch my dad in the old men’s league,” he said. “I remember just loving it, watching him score and doing different celebrations.
“So as soon as I started playing I just fell in love with it, and I don’t know how much of a dream I had at that point, but you get to a certain age where you say, ‘This is what I want to do,’” Edu said.
He was Baseline League MVP and an all-CIF Southern Section pick his senior year at Etiwanda, before choosing to play college soccer on the East Coast.
GLOBETROTTING CAREER
After 10 goals in 55 matches and an NCAA national championship at University of Maryland, Edu was the No. 1 pick by Toronto FC in the 2007 Major League Soccer SuperDraft.
The 6-foot midfielder was in the middle of winning the MLS Rookie of the Year award and receiving call-ups to the U.S. Men’s National Team when Scottish giant Rangers FC paid a $3.25 million transfer fee in 2008 to sign Edu to a five-year contract.
Edu made the 23-man roster for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and nearly had a match-winner against Slovenia, but the referee disallowed the goal in a decision that was internationally criticized.
Making more than 100 appearances for Rangers from 2008-12, Edu scored a match-winner against rival Celtic, debuted in the UEFA Champions League against Manchester United and scored against Valencia in the Champions League before the club experienced financial issues. Edu was transferred to Stoke City in the English Premier League.
In a move he described as “a dream come true” to sign for a Premier League club, Edu made only one appearance as a substitute for Stoke City – in a 0-0 draw against Liverpool in 2013 – before a new manager was installed at the club and he was sent on loan to Bursaspor in Turkey.
He returned to MLS with Philadelphia Union in 2014 but after being deployed primarily as a center back for two-plus seasons, injuries began to take their toll. First, a groin muscle sprain and then a stress fracture in his left leg sidelined him for all of 2016 and most of 2017.
Following an off-season trial with Los Angeles FC, Edu quietly stepped away in 2018.
AN I.E. BROTHERHOOD
From the late 1990s to the mid-2000s, San Bernardino County produced as many U.S. Men’s National Team players as any region in the country.
Edu followed Donovan (Redlands East Valley), Nick Rimando (Montclair), Carlos Bocanegra (Alta Loma) and Brian Dunseth (Damien) as area high schoolers who eventually played for the USMNT.
“My math teacher in junior high was Carlos Bocanegra’s dad, so I remember being in class when ‘Los’ got drafted and just witnessing what it meant to his dad in the moment,” Edu said. “It makes you proud and you say, ‘This is a guy from my area!’ and you’re always proud of where you come from.”
Bocanegra and Edu would team after their playing careers in the front office at Atlanta United FC.
“To have quite a few success stories from the same area, it’s a brotherhood,” Edu said. “I know (Dunseth) and (Rimando) and all those guys, but the generation is now.
“Players today have so many reference points, so if you dream of doing something, this just makes the dream that much more real and I’m proud to be a part of that,” Edu said.
