When Tyler Adams lined up a shot from nearly 30 yards out, both United States center backs, up for a corner kick, had the same thought: ‘Time to run back and defend.’
“Usually, when Tyler shoots, you go ahead and get back into your position,” Chris Richards said.
“Row Z,” added Tim Ream. “I thought, ‘OK, there’s a goal kick coming’.”
Instead, the center backs’ runs were towards Adams, celebrating a goal unlike any he had scored before in a mob with a full group of jubilant teammates. The midfielder made his first start for the U.S. since the 2022 World Cup in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Mexico in the CONCACAF Nations League final following almost a whole year out through injury, as the USMNT captured the competition’s title for the third time in a row.
Adams had never scored a goal from outside the box in his professional career and rarely even shoots from distance, but felt the time was right to change that.
“When the ball came to me and I felt like I had time on the ball, it was a no-brainer,” Adams said.
TYLER ADAMS 💥
🎥 » @CBSSportsGolazo
pic.twitter.com/pSFk8n9Vru— U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team (@USMNT) March 25, 2024
Adams came off at halftime due to a minutes restriction agreed between the USMNT and Bournemouth, the Premier League club that was surely hoping Adams would return to England following this international break a bit fitter and much more confident.
“Now I feel like I can shoot whenever I feel like,” Adams said, sporting his medal after the match. “I’ve been practising that in my rehab recently. It was a good feeling scoring that one.”
Adams and Gio Reyna both came into the game with rust: Adams having played 20 league minutes this season and Reyna 309 between Borussia Dortmund and Nottingham Forest. They were the two core pieces of the U.S. team that had the most question marks around their match fitness. Coach Gregg Berhalter opted to start both on Sunday and enjoyed the rewards, with Reyna adding the second goal.
Once Ream got over the shock of seeing Adams’ long-range effort beat goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, he was able to reflect more deeply on Adams’ return to the field, coming back from a pair of hamstring injuries that required surgery and putting in a solid shift in the first half of a final.
“To see him rewarded after the amount of work he’s had to put in to get back to where he is, I think that’s the most impressive part,” the defender said.
Adams was mobbed after his goal (Darren Carroll/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)
That Adams and Reyna scored the goals and had a huge influence on proceedings may be a return to normal instead of a big shock for the U.S. side. The 25-year-old Adams and 21-year-old Reyna have long been seen as some of the brightest stars of a promising generation of U.S. players who have raised expectations around this squad.
The surprise may be just how much they contributed — and that they did so from the opening whistle.
Mexico coach Jaime Lozano said after the match he and his coaching staff expected to see Reyna from the beginning but perhaps not Adams after the midfielder’s long night against Jamaica, in which he was brought on in the second half of Thursday’s semifinal, only to be taken off again in extra time due to that minutes restriction.
Still, he said, they’ve watched Adams since he was a young player and are well aware of his skills.
“Today, he had a great goal, which I think changed the course of the game,” Lozano said. “We know, despite the fact that they came in (out of rhythm), that they’re totally international-quality players.”
Reyna, meanwhile, was named player of the tournament after assisting two goals in extra time in the semifinal to go with Sunday night’s insurance score. His performances merited it, but after the drama that surrounded Reyna, his family and Berhalter following the 2022 World Cup, seeing the coach run down the touchline to celebrate the title-clinching goal with Reyna last night wasn’t what many might have imagined in the aftermath of that fiasco.
Other national teams might have frozen Reyna out, but since returning as U.S. manager in June 2023 after a brief hiatus following that World Cup, Berhalter has worked slowly to reintegrate Reyna into the team.
“I think when I took over the team again, I talked about needing time,” Berhalter said. “The more that we worked together and the more that he believed that intentions were true and our whole staff has his best interest in mind, I think we started to gain trust.”
“If we didn’t put it in the past, it would’ve been affecting the team, and I think that was most important for both of us: to put it in the past and focus on the team,” Reyna said. “I think the last few camps since we’ve been back together, they’ve been pretty successful camps.”
Reyna was named player of the tournament (Darren Carroll/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)
Increasingly, it feels that when it’s a successful camp for Reyna, it’s a successful camp for the U.S. and vice versa. After a stingy Jamaica nearly denied the U.S. any scoring opportunities in 95 minutes of the semifinal, Reyna unlocked the Reggae Boyz and lifted the U.S. into the final.
On Sunday, Reyna was there to finish a move just after the hour mark, surging into the box to apply a strong finish to an attempted clearance. His hit on the half-volley beat Ochoa to the near post and doubled the lead Adams had given the U.S.
“I think both of us came in ready to perform,” Reyna said. “I don’t think the outside noise of maybe not getting enough minutes really affects us. The body of work we’ve shown in the first few days of training here, and the preparation, really shows what we’ve done and I’m just super-happy for him and also pumped up for me, to be honest.”
The hope for the U.S. now is that both players not only excel upon their return to their clubs in England but that they stay healthy and gather strength. While Berhalter was thrilled to have 45 minutes from Adams and 78 from Reyna last night, he’ll hope to soon have 90 from both.
That will be especially important in the Copa America on home turf this summer, which the U.S. begins June 23 against Bolivia.
The matches only get more difficult from there and Berhalter must have Reyna creating and Adams patrolling the midfield and maybe, just maybe, firing off a few of those long-range rockets.
(Top photo: Shaun Clark/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
Read the full article here