Another African youth set to become U.S. star

[Zeppo]

<H1 class=red>Road to join U.S. elite, starts in refugee camp </H1><DIV class=subhead>Alex Nimo began playing soccer as a child in Africa on dirt behind a concrete wall guarded by tanks </DIV><DIV class=byln>Wednesday, January 10, 2007 <DIV>JOE FREEMAN </DIV></DIV>

W hen the swift and shifty 9-year-old from Africa arrived out of the blue at a soccer camp run by the late Clive Charles eight years ago, he made an instant and lasting impression.

"He came in and blew everybody away," said Clarena Charles, Clive's wife. "Within 15 minutes, Clive moved him up two age groups and said, 'We need to get that kid playing at the (FC Portland soccer) academy.' "

And that's hardly the most impressive accomplishment of Alex Nimo, who has overcome in 16 years what most don't endure in a lifetime while becoming perhaps the best teenage soccer player in Oregon history. <SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ads.oregonlive.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_jx.ads/www.oregonlive.com/xml/story/sp/sphsm/@StoryAd"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1>//Be Sure to change Click & Image Link in Both Placesvar FlashClickthru="http://www.epicimaging.com/frames.asp?msec=pa&pg=53&sec=E";var SWFFilename="Infertility-300x250.swf";var ImageName="Infertility-300x250.gif";var CodeVersion="Flash_1.1";var TFSMFlash_VERSION=6;var TFSMFlash_WMODE="opaque";var TFSMFlash_OASCLICK="http://ads.advance.net/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.oregonlive.com/xml/story/sp/sphsm/165145244/StoryAd/OREGONLIVE/EPICIMG05OR02/Infertility-300x250_Delivery.html/38396363633835373435616236623330";var TFSMFlash_SWFCLICKVARIABLE="?clickTAG=http://ads.advance.net/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.oregonlive.com/xml/story/sp/sphsm/165145244/StoryAd/OREGONLIVE/EPICIMG05OR02/Infertility-300x250_Delivery.html/38396363633835373435616236623330?" + escape(FlashClickthru);var TFSMFlash_SWFFILE="http://ads.advance.net/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OREGONLIVE/EPICIMG05OR02/"+SWFFilename+TFSMFlash_SWFCLICKVARIABLE;var TFSMFlash_IMAGEALTERNATE="http://ads.advance.net/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OREGONLIVE/EPICIMG05OR02/"+ImageName;var TFSMFlash_OASALTTEXT="Click here!";var TFSMFlash_OASTARGET="_blank";var TFSMFlash_OASPROTOCOL="http://";var TFSMFlash_OASDIM="WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250";var TFSMFlash_OASADID="ad_banner";&#100;ocument.write( '<scr'+ 'ipt src="http://ads.advance.net/RealMedia/ads/Upload/js_wrappers/FlashStory.js"></scr'+'ipt>');</SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://ads.advance.net/RealMedia/ads/Upload/js_wrappers/FlashStory.js"></SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT>

[Mosiah]

RE: Another African youth set to become U.S. star

Is it just me? I just can't seem to trust the next yankee soccer hype. Twice bitten, thrice shyer.

[T.K.]

RE: Another African youth set to become U.S. star

Zeppo....let me tell you.....I met Clive Charles back in 1997 and he was the single most interesting coach I have EVER spoken to. That was a life cut short. He had so much to offer US soccer.

I remember watching a US training session before their match with the Reggae Boyz and Steve Sampson was running it. The players were drab and unenthusiastic.

Clive came to the session late as his plane just arrived and all of a sudden you saw the energy of the player just pick up. All the players were thrilled to see him. He took over the practice at that point and it just took off from there. You could see how much the players respected him.

He had 3-4 books in him to contribute to the soccer community in the US. Just ashame thatthat his battle with cancer took so much away from him.Even then he still won an NCAA Championship with Portland. - T.K.

[Zeppo]

ESCAPING A CIVIL WAR

“I remember I actually went to sleep with the soccer ball in my hands and my shoes under my pillow cause I was so excited,” said Nimo.

Having grown up in a Liberian refugee camp in Ghana, Nimo has a unique story that spans continents and hardships before bringing him to the Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla.

To capture just a glimpse of his tumultuous past, the story leads back to the country of Liberia at the onset of a political strife in 1989. A group of rebels, later to be known as the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, invaded a small county in Ghana and started the First Liberian Civil War, which was to last until 1996. When Nimo was born in 1990, the hope of peace was far beyond reach and Nimo’s parents fled to Ghana with their children, seeking refuge in the Buduburan Refugee Camp, which had been created for the purpose of offering sanctuary for the thousands of Liberian refugees.

(continue)

[Jamaica2099]

Re: Another African youth set to become U.S. star

NIMO scored 2 goals against T&T to lead the US U-17 team to a 3-0 win.

[Tilla]

Re: Another African youth set to become U.S. star

I guess we can soon call the US sides United States of Africa.

[Zeppo]

Re: Another African youth set to become U.S. star

I guess we can soon call the US sides United States of Africa.

Careful now. Talk like that is goint to send Shatta into a jealous fury!