Why USMNT captain Tyler Adams is the ideal leader for Gregg Berhalter

DOHA, Qatar — Gregg Berhalter didn't really want a captain, and Tyler Adams didn't really want to be one. .

17, FOXSports.com broke the news that Adams had been overwhelmingly voted in as captain by his fellow players. .

"Tyler fits a very specific role," Berhalter said, after Tuesday's advancement-sealing 1-0 victory over Iran.

For whatever inferiority complexes American soccer fans occasionally harbor, it is not an exaggeration to say Adams would be a contender to be named in a "team of the tournament" if one was to be selected right now.

Spend a little time around this American group, and you start to see the extent of what Adams brings.

Yet for everything he has offered on the field, perhaps Adams' most composed display came a day before that contest, sat at a dais in Doha's expansive World Cup media center, with an earpiece positioned for translation. ?

With unavoidable political undertones surrounding the matchup, Iranian journalists peppered Adams and Berhalter with pointed questions about American foreign policy and social issues?

"My apologies on the mispronunciation of your country," Adams said.

It feels trite to compare such things to the field of play, or does it.

Walker didn't instantly concur with the method Berhalter chose in allowing his players to pick the World Cup captain but says the coach "wore me down." He made the point that such a democratic way of choosing a leader only works if the culture of your group is strong.

"Tyler is the perfect captain for this group," Walker added.

player and has the nickname "Captain America" at Chelsea, but Adams' role and spot on the field are better suited to the captaincy.

Adams especially will have a role in reducing the comfort level of big forward Cody Gakpo, who has scored in each game so far, and fit-again Memphis Depay, an explosive striker also at Barça.

"You're going to have to suffer a lot in these games," Adams said Wednesday.

The Netherlands could be another favorite to win the World Cup." 

A FOX Sports featured this week by Tom Rinaldi detailed Adams' ride, from a braces-wearing 16-year-old, scoring for the New York Red Bulls against Chelsea, to the German Bundesliga's RB Leipzig, where he reached the Champions League semifinal in 2020

If part of what makes Adams work well as captain is character, that's because he came from an upbringing that prioritized that trait above all others

"My mom worked extremely hard, early mornings, late nights, whatever she could do to earn a little extra money," Adams said of Melissa Russo, who initially raised him as a single mother

"I was very fortunate that I had a role model in my mother," he said

"I didn't want to tell him it's highly unlikely (to go pro), and I'm glad I didn't," she added

The USA team didn't want a captain, but it has one