Should Tyler Adams feature for the U.S. men’s national team on Thursday, it will mark his first cap since the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and while many players might have been frustrated with the lengthy gap in their international appearances, Adams was always focused on the next opportunity.
Adams was called in to Gregg Berhalter’s 23-player roster for Thursday’s upcoming CONCACAF Nations League semifinal vs. Jamaica, his first senior call-up in 15 months. After suffering back-to-back hamstring injuries at Leeds United and Bournemouth, Adams recently made his league debut for the club in a 4-3 comeback win over Luton Town last week.
Now with growing fitness and confidence back on his side, Adams is ready to contribute to a potential third-straight Nations League title for the Americans.
“I was talking to Gregg [Berhalter] all along and we were deciding whether I would just come into camp and be around the guys and continue my fitness and training or if I felt I could play a role on the inactive roster,” Adams said Monday in a press conference. If you ask me, of course, I want to play a role and be on the active roster,” he added. “I think for these games, I’m still probably minute-capped a little bit it’s not obviously about me coming flying out of the gates but, yeah, I know I can contribute 45 to 60 minutes.
“There was never a doubt in my mind that the moment will come,” Adams added. “Anyone that knows me knows that I do a lot of my work behind the scenes. I go about my business in the right way. I’ve been continuously working nonstop in the past months to make sure that this time would come.”
Opportunities have been scarce for Adams since moving to Bournemouth, playing in just two matches across all competitions. After making his club debut in an EFL Cup win against Stoke City last October, Adams was forced back to the sidelines after re-aggravating the same hamstring he injured at Leeds United in April.
Although his club career was on hold, life continued to move forward for Adams in a good way. He became a father for the first time with his girlfriend Sarah in January, savoring the time at home with his newborn son.
Adams wanted to be back on the field with his teammates, but relished the relaxing time at home with his loved ones.
“There’s never a good time to be injured, especially when playing a sport is your job, your craft, everything that you want to be, but to be able to have this opportunity to become a dad in this moment and not have to think about the stresses of the game, going away and missing things or not being there possibly for the birth, just being very relaxed in all those moments and being able to support my amazing girlfriend throughout that all has been a huge blessing in disguise,” Adams said.
“It’s really the best thing that’s happened to me, and these first few months so far have been a great learning experience, a great learning curve, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything,” he added.
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Before returning to Andoni Iraola’s first-team squad at Bournemouth, Adams featured for the Cherries’ developmental squad earlier this month, gaining valuable experience back on the field. He later helped close out a crucial league win over Luton Town and now has a new opportunity to get back to featuring alongside his international teammates.
It’s been a major turnaround for Adams, who admitted the never-ending support he received during a tough moment in his career.
“The rehab process was a long one and an enduring one,” Adams said. “You learn a lot about yourself in those tough moments, because, in those moments, there are no headlines about you. There are no people talking about you anymore. All of a sudden, you like fall off a cliff and you’re kind of irrelevant in that moment.”
“I was in touch with a lot of the players,” he added. “Like I said, they’re close friends. I’ve been in touch with Gregg throughout it all. They were constantly checking in with me. The Federation did an amazing job throughout my rehab process of just making sure I was hitting all my benchmarks and doing the right things. Anything that we could do to accelerate the process in a smart way as well, we tried to do and. ultimately, that’s why I’m back now.”
Whether or not Adams gets the nod in Berhalter’s starting lineup on Thursday remains to be seen, but having his presence back in the USMNT squad is a key win. Adams could very well start at AT&T Stadium against the Reggae Boyz, but also could be important off the bench in the second half.
Overall, Adams is excited to be back with the USMNT and his teammates and coaches are certainly pleased to have him back for competitive action.
“Tyler is obviously a huge part of this team, a huge part of our culture,” goalkeeper Matt Turner said about Adams. “He’s a guy who wears the captain’s armband quite frequently when he’s on the pitch for us. He’s a true leader on the pitch and off the pitch. It’s really great to have him back and get reintegrated with the group.”
It’s great for us to have Tyler back. I think the first part is that we’ve got a really great culture that we’ve built and he was such a large part of building that culture,” USMNT assistant coach B.J. Callaghan said. “To have him back and get him integrated with his teammates, they go beyond teammates; they’re friends. I think he just brings a big left to us.”
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