PHOENIX, Ariz. — When United States Men’s National Team defender Tim Ream introduced his retirement on Tuesday, Sept. 29 upfront of the crew’s pleasant towards Chile, American soccer did not simply lose its most celebrated veteran: it misplaced its captain, too.
Ream led the USMNT on the 2026 FIFA World Cup after being tapped for the function by coach Mauricio Pochettino. His departure from the nationwide crew opens a management alternative for the squad’s senior gamers— and Ream labored exhausting to make sure they’d be prepared for it.
“The most important factor that I needed to do as I began to get the captain’s armband increasingly is ‘how can I assist these guys turn into the subsequent captain?'” Ream stated after his retirement announcement. “How can I assist this group proceed to develop and be extra particular than they’re?”
With 13 uncapped gamers showing on the USMNT’s first post-World Cup roster, the necessity for robust leaders is evident. However which members of the USMNT are more likely to step into Ream’s footwear — and how much setting are they more likely to foster?
Tyler Adams, Midfielder
27-year-old Adams is the likeliest USMNT captain candidate, largely as a result of he is a former captain himself. Earlier coach Gregg Berhalter named the then-23-year-old Adams the captain of the 2022 USMNT World Cup squad on the idea of his maturity and grit. Adams was the youngest captain at that match by almost a decade, however he match proper in, deftly lifting up his teammates whereas delivering humble solutions to powerful questions from international journalists.
Adams entered the USMNT throughout a second of turmoil: his first caps got here within the wake of the crew’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. That disappointing actuality cast him in fireplace, however he is all in favour of serving to the subsequent era keep away from that form of strain.
“I take a look at this era of gamers proper now and I believe they’re in an ideal place that they will undergo the method correctly,” Adams said at the beginning of this USMNT camp. “Actually simply lean on steering and undergo and get their very own experiences, have alternatives just like the Olympics as properly alongside that means and different competitions to actually develop them for the subsequent World Cup.”
