Fanendo Adi was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and began his youth career in his home country. He bounced around teams in Slovakia, Ukraine and Denmark before landing in MLS with the Portland Timbers in 2014. The striker originally went on loan from Copenhagen, where he got UEFA Champions League experience. In his first MLS match, he subbed in for just seven minutes, in which he headed a perfect assist to tie the game. Adi made his first career start on April 12th against Chivas USA, and scored in the 65th minute. A few minutes later, he ran in behind and calmly made it a brace. In his very next start, he scored a header off a Diego Valeri corner. Those two were beginning to create something special. Adi then roofed a rebound on the stroke of halftime, for a second straight brace in a start. He did not score again until yet another brace against Seattle. Down 3-0 in the Cascadian matchup, he crashed the box and pulled one back. Then, down 4-1, Adi smashed a left footed shot into the top left corner. Adi had scored 6 goals, all coming in pairs of two
That trend did not change quite yet, either. In September, he scored another brace, his seventh and eighth goals of the year. Adi ran in behind against Vancouver and slowly rolled it into the net. He later took a Darlington Nagbe pass and finished it to double his total. Adi's first ever single-goal match happened late in the campaign, but the Timbers missed the playoffs by a single point.
After scoring 9 times in his opening season, he looked to increase his numbers in 2015. He did, by a quite a bit. In his usual style, he scored twice in the second match of the year. Adi curled one in at the far post, before forcing in what he thought would be the match-winner, though Alan Gordon was far too clutch to let that happen. In a June match hosting the New England Revolution, Adi flicked a header past Bobby Shuttleworth, then again with a slight touch for yet another brace. Later in the month, he did the double against the Sounders. His first came in the 74th minute, hitting a perfect strike into the top right corner. He celebrated with Timber Joey's chainsaw. With no pressure on the ball just seconds later, he let fly and pounded his shot low and hard. In a preview of MLS Cup, Adi struck two times, to the surprise of no one, against the Columbus Crew. He slipped the first one under Steve Clark, then skillfully guided the match-winner home. In October, Adi scored 4 goals in 3 games, including another brace against the LA Galaxy. In the 65th minute, Portland was down 1-0, keep that in mind. At that point, Adi turned on a dime and equalized the match. Two minutes later, he earned and scored a penalty to make it 2-1. The game absolutely exploded at that point, as it ended 5-2.
The Portland Timbers finished in third place in the Western Conference. Fanendo Adi scored 16 goals during the regular season, ten of them coming as a part of a brace. In the knockout round, they scraped past Sporting Kansas City in a 3-3 draw and 7-6 penalty kicks victory. They drew 0-0 with Vancouver in leg one of the next round. Adi took matters into his own hands In Vancouver, smashing a left footed shot with unbelievable power for the lead. Adi assisted the Diego Chara goal that sent them to the next round. Next up was FC Dallas, in the WCF. They won 3-1 in the first leg, leaving not much left to do in the second. What was left to do for Portland's #9 was to score, which he did with great strength. The Timbers advanced to MLS Cup against Columbus. Adi attempted five shots but did not score in the final, but he hoisted the trophy after the 2-1 victory.
In an MLS Cup rematch to open the 2016 season, Adi won the game with an effort play at the back post. The braces were renewed for a third consecutive season. In a March game against Real Salt Lake, Adi made a surging comeback from 2-0 down, redirecting a shot into the back of the net, then equalized from the spot. He came on for just 27 minutes in a match in San Jose, yet still could not be denied of two goals. He finished off a well worked attack against Toronto FC. This goal was his 15th goal in his last 20 matches. In August, Portland played Seattle two weeks in a row. They split the series, and Adi scored in both games. He scored a penalty kick on Decision Day, but only in MLS would the previous champion miss the playoffs. For the second straight year, Adi scored 16 goals.
In 2017, Adi kicked off the season with 2 goals in the first fixture. Adi rounded the keeper for his first, before scoring a second stoppage time goal a minute later. He shielded the ball masterfully to cap off a big win against Houston. It was a brace against FC Dallas in June, he waltzed into the box to score while falling to the ground, and took his sweet old time for the second. His season was unfortunately cut short, due to a hamstring strain. Adi suffered multiple setbacks, and despite reports that he would return, he never did. Portland won the Western Conference regular season, but lost in the postseason. He finished the season with 10 goals, the fourth straight season he scored at least 9 times. He was never quite the same after the injury.
In 2018, Fanendo Adi returned from his injury, but his role diminished greatly over the course of the season. He scored his first goal of the season against Minnesota, a match-winning header. In the very next match, he tapped one home at the back post. He would not score another goal until the magical night of July 28th. Prior to the match against Houston, it was rumored that Adi would be leaving for expansion side FC Cincinnati. The match was to be his final night as a Timber. In a very emotional sequence, Adi popped up and scored a match-winner in a 15 minute substitute appearance, never to step back on the pitch for Portland.
On July 30th, Adi was officially acquired by Cincinnati in exchange for about $1m in allocation money. In one of the weirder transfers MLS has seen, Adi joined the future MLS team by playing the second half of the season in USL, where Cincy was still playing. In the 2019 MLS season, he got injured early on. He just did not look like his old self when he returned again. FCC did not get their bang for their buck in Adi, has he scored one single MLS goal for the $1m they spent, scoring a left footed shot to the far post against Chicago. He was also involved in a mess of a suspension for driving charges.
Cincinnati moved on from the failed experiment after their inaugural season, offloading him on waivers. It was one of the many horrible aspects of Cincy's first years in MLS, but they could not be thriving anymore than they are now. In January of 2020, Adi was claimed by the Columbus Crew. If you've heard the saying about doing no work on the group project, but still getting an A, that's what Adi did in 2020. He technically won his second MLS Cup, despite playing 175 minutes and never contributing to a Columbus goal.
He moved onto his last stop in MLS in 2021, playing just 205 minutes for Minnesota United. He scored his first goal of the season, and last ever MLS goal, with just a couple games left in his career. He was gifted an opportunity right in front of goal. At the conclusion of his contract with Minnesota, Fanendo Adi was retired from professional soccer on January 1, 2022. Earlier this year, in 2023, Adi received his US Soccer B License for coaching. He then got a job with the last MLS team he played for, he is now the head coach for the U19 Minnesota United team. It was sad to see a player of his sheer quality, and a proven goal scorer for many years, reduced to a reserve in his final years. But, Portland fans will always be able to bask in the glory of the years and memories he brought to the team. For those exact years, Adi comes in at #51.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | GOALS | ASSISTS |
2021 | MIN | 205 | 1 | 1 |
2020 | CLB | 175 | 0 | 0 |
2019 | FCC | 695 | 1 | 2 |
2018 | POR | 823 | 3 | 3 |
2017 | POR | 1,885 | 10 | 2 |
2016 | POR | 2,649 | 16 | 2 |
2015 | POR | 2,161 | 16 | 3 |
2014 | POR | 1,512 | 9 | 4 |
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