Wappingers' Tyler Adams, USA look to advance in World Cup with 'surreal' support from home

Tyler Adams is 6,700 miles from home, in a foreign country, serving as captain for the United States men’s soccer team in the World Cup in Qatar.

The 23-year-old, by the way, is the youngest captain in the tournament and the U.S.'s youngest captain since 1950, leading a team that hasn’t reached the quarterfinals of the once-every-four-years event since 2002.

But he’s been helped, he said Friday, be a “surreal” level of support he feels from the U.S. in general, and his hometown of Wappingers Falls specifically.

“You absolutely channel it,” he said.

“My dad’s a teacher,” he said of Darryl Sullivan, who teaches at Adams’ alma mater Roy C. Ketcham High School. “At school they were all watching during their classes, the game and supporting me. And I was getting videos from the family all the watch parties in my town and whatnot.”

Surely, plenty of televisions in Wappingers Falls and beyond will be turned on 10 a.m. Saturday, when Adams and Team USA take on the Netherlands in the knockout round of the World Cup.

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While the Americans reached the 16-team knockout round in 2010 and 2014, they have not reached the quarterfinals since 2002.

They’ve made it this far despite only scoring two goals in the opening three games; Team USA has only allowed one goal, and that came on a penalty kick.

Adams, a midfielder playing in the World Cup for the first time on a team that is, on average, the youngest in the tournament, gained praise from his coach Friday for that defense.

“He’s led, not only off the field but on the field. We always talked about his ability to win the ball back and to help us in defensive transition moments, and it’s been excellent this World Cup,” Team USA head coach Gregg Berhalter said at a press conference Friday. “Our defensive shape has been really good, and he’s responsible for coaching the players in front of him. I know they’ve given me that feedback that he’s done a great job with that.”

Berhalter, though, knows the Netherlands present a different challenge from the U.S.’s previous three opponents. While Team USA finished second in its group with a record of one win and two ties, the Netherlands finished first in its group with two wins and a tie, scoring five total goals.

Bethalter also knows a little something about the Netherlands. He signed with the Dutch club Zwolle 28 years ago as a young soccer player himself.

Now 49, Berhalter will match tactics against Louis van Gaal, at 71 the oldest coach in the World Cup. Van Gaal guided the Netherlands to third place in the 2014 tournament and has won seven league titles with Ajax, AZ Alkmaar, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

That success means little to the Oranje’s demanding fanbase.

“If I have to believe the Dutch media, we’ll never become world champion,” Van Gaal said in Dutch. “In 2014 it was exactly the same. Extremely negative. Now it’s the same all over again. I am used to it, and I think my players are used to it, so we will calmly move on.”

Van Gaal’s squad has been battling flu, much like the Americans last week.

Adams praised the quality of the Dutch team.

"From defense all the way to their attacking players, every single player plays at a high level," Adams said. "When you're playing against that much quality, yeah, you're able to limit them, but for how long? We know we're going to have to give it our all."

The Americans have several Dutch ties. U.S. sporting director Earnie Stewart grew up in the Netherlands, as did current right back Sergiño Dest.

“It’s going to be a pretty fun one, playing against the country I was born in,” Dest said. “I know almost every single guy over there.”

Berhalter took a question in Dutch without translation. He left the University of North Carolina after his junior season to sign with Zwolle in 1994, switched to Sparta Rotterdam in 1996 and Cambuur Leeuwarden in 1998.

Van Gaal claimed he didn’t recall Sparta upsetting his Ajax team in 1997.

“Being that competitive, he has to remember that game,” Berhalter said, chuckling.

The U.S. has played the Netherlands five times, all friendlies The Americans lost four before rallying late for a 4-3 win in 2015.

Berhalter was hired after the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

“What I observe is a vision,” Van Gaal said. “What I see is a team that is keen to execute that vision, which is of the utmost importance, and I see the conviction, especially the conviction of the players. So that for a coach must be fantastic.”

Part of Berhalter’s vision, he said Friday, was to grow the sport at home.

“We felt a responsibility to use this World Cup to create momentum in the United States for soccer,” he said.

Adams has felt it from the support at home in Dutchess County and around the rest of the country.

“It’s really, really cool to see how much a tournament can change the perspective on people supporting soccer. That was one of our goals coming into the tournament. The farther we go, the more support that we gather,” he said. “We want the next generation, and generations to come, to have that support behind them.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Tyler Adams: Wappingers Falls, countrywide support helps at World Cup