Tyler Adams in action against Wales. REUTERS
Tyler Adams is, by some distance, the youngest captain at Qatar 2022.
Of the other 31 at this FIFA World Cup, all but one are in their 30s – and Harry Kane, 29, isn’t exactly a youthful fellow exception.
The 23-year-old USA skipper stands out, therefore, and in more ways than one. It could even be argued that, as well as being the tournament’s youngest captain, Adams – on and off the field - has also been its most impressive.
“Heart, energy, technical ability, tenacity, integrity – he’s got it all,” Tim Ream, the team’s veteran centre-back, told FIFA+. “For me, Tyler sums everything that’s good about this team. And he represents this squad really well.”
Adams’ status as USA’s standard-bearer was certainly enhanced by the composed and classy manner in which he dealt with some combative questioning ahead of their win-or-bust meeting with Iran.
But it is on the field that he has made the biggest impression. Asked to assess his skipper’s contribution to USA’s successful group-stage campaign, Ream could only think of only one adjective: “Unbelievable.”
“He’s everywhere on the pitch – at all times! Sometimes I think there’s two or three of him out there,” added the 35-year-old, laughing. “He has that much energy and covers that much ground. We’re so glad to have him on our team, and he just continues to get better and better and better.”
Although evidently a natural in the role, Adams has held the US captaincy for less than a fortnight. His ascension to the position came not at the whim of Gregg Berhalter, but following a players’ vote – reportedly near-unanimous – on who should lead them
in Qatar.
“For the last three-and-a-half years, we’ve been working with a leadership council,” Berhalter explained, referring to a group that included Adams, Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic and Walker Zimmerman. “We asked them, well, what do you guys want to do for the World Cup? And they thought it’d be better to have a captain named for the World Cup.
“With Tyler, he’s a guy that’s just mature beyond his years - and you notice it from the minute you start talking to him. He’s a guy that teammates know exactly what they’re going to get from. They know that he’s going to go out on the field and compete. They know that he’s going to be thinking about the game. And I think that helps the group because he calms people down and he’s a guy that people get behind.”
“He is the general,” Berhalter added after Adams produced yet another classy and committed performance in the qualification-sealing 1-0 win over Iran. “He is the strategist. He’s the guy that goes out there and leads by example. When he talks, people listen.”
The US coach also stressed another key attribute that helps Adams embody the best in his team: “His humility”. And of all the complimentary labels attached to him, it’s this one that seems to please the captain most.
“As much as I know my strengths, I know my weaknesses as well. And I want people to criticise me,” he said. “I’m open to feedback all the time and I want to get better and improve.
“I want to be a winner. I’m very competitive. And I want to hold the guys around me to the same standard. I don’t want to lose and then have them point the finger and say, `You let me down today.′”
So far in Qatar, there has been no chance whatsoever of that. With their young captain playing like a man possessed and behaving like a man born to guide and inspire, USA have a leader well worth following.
