HARRISON, N.J. (May 9, 2017) – New York Red Bulls midfielder Tyler Adams has been named to the United States Under-20 Men’s National team for the 2017 World Cup. Adams, who joined the U-20s on Sunday for fitness camp, is named to the final World Cup roster after playing a major role for the team in the CONCACAF U-20 Championships in March.
The United States begins group play with a match against Ecuador on Monday, May 22 at 4 a.m. ET. The U.S. also faces Senegal on May 25, and Saudi Arabia on May 28. Should the U.S. advance, the round of 16 begins on May 30, with the tournament running through June 11 for the Final and third-place matches. All matches will be televised on FS1.
“It’s been long time out now, obviously, after winning the CONCACAF Championship, but we’re all excited to get going, head to South Korea for some big games ahead,” said Adams. “The last [U-20] group did a great job going to the Quarterfinals, but we look to extend that and even go farther than that… we have a good group, a lot of good guys and a lot of experienced guys that went to the last U-20 World Cup. With their experience and the young talent that we have, I think we’re going to do a good job going forward.”
The Red Bulls Homegrown Player totaled four starts in the CONCACAF Championships and played the full 90 minutes in three of his appearances. Adams was forced to make an early exit the opening match of the tournament due to injury and missed two games; only to bounce back and play the final three matches to help the U.S. U-20’s to their first CONCACAF title.
Adams has entrenched himself into the Red Bulls Starting XI since he was given an opportunity to start against Real Salt Lake on March 25. Since then, Adams has started six of the last seven matches. The defensive midfielder has been crucial in New York’s defensive success, anchoring a defensive third that has blanked three of seven opponents he has faced since being implemented in the starting rotation.