USMNT's Tyler Adams sidelined until February following hamstring surgery
United States men’s national team midfielder Tyler Adams is expected to be sidelined until February following hamstring surgery, The Athletic reported on Thursday.
The 24-year-old Adams, who captained the USMNT at last year’s World Cup in Qatar, originally injured his hamstring last March playing for Leeds United. He underwent a procedure to correct the ailment then, and finally returned to the field in September for new Premier League club Bournemouth, which singed the former New York Red Bulls and RB Leipzig destroyer for $28 million in August after Leeds, without Adams, was relegated from England’s top division last spring.
Adams made his debut for the Cherries Sept. 27 in a Carabao Cup match, coming on as a substitute for the final 20 minutes. But he didn’t dress for Bournemouth’s next league game, after which manager Andoni Iraola said Adams had suffered a recurrence of the injury and would "be out for some time."
The original injury forced Adams to miss both the March and September international windows plus the CONCACAF Nations League finals last June, which the U.S won by beating Mexico in the semis and Canada in the title match. But the Americans missed Adams’ presence dogged defensive range dearly in last weekend’s 3-1 loss to four-time world champion Germany.
"All of us — the staff, the players — feel really, really bad for Tyler because he's working so hard to get back and had a setback," U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said earlier this month. "So we're thinking about Tyler. He means a tremendous amount to this team both on and off the field."
The silver lining from a U.S perspective is that if Adams is able to make it back by February, he would miss just two more international games: next month’s home-and-home against Trinidad and Tobago in the 2023-24 Nations League quarters. The semis and final, should the U.S. advance, will be held in March.
Adams appeared in 24 Prem games for Leeds last season. He has won 36 caps for the U.S. and was one of just three players to log every minute of the Americans’ four games at the last World Cup.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men's and women's national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
