So, it was revealing — but not surprising — when I received a thoughtful text reply from U.S. men’s national team midfielder Tyler Adams about meeting up the next day, just hours after Adams and the USMNT’s World Cup run ended with a 4-1 rout by Belgium on Monday night in Seattle.

It was a game in which anything that could go wrong did. The ninth-ranked Belgium side struck first inside 10 minutes, when Charles De Ketelaere got loose in the box, taking much of the air out of Seattle’s notoriously raucous stadium.

When the U.S. equalized in the 31st minute on Malik Tillman’s free kick, De Ketelaere answered two minutes later. Wearing its dark blue away kit, the U.S. looked a far cry from the high-pressing squad in red stripes that had made a habit of striking early and captivating the imaginations of American fans from coast to coast in its previous games.

But just like on the pitch — and even in defeat — Adams shows up. His message asked if it was possible to sleep in (yes, Tyler, you’ve earned it) and told me that “hopefully we inspired some kids to keep this rolling.”

He showed up in late morning the next day wearing a fresh white T-shirt, designer sunglasses, his customary positive outlook and a deep sense of purpose.

“I think on an individual level, I pushed myself this season to new levels, past barriers.” Adams told Andscape the day after the Belgium loss. “Every single day is a grind. I’ve gone through things like hiccups, injuries and having to push yourself after a hard season to go directly through a very difficult tournament. I’m most proud of the mentality that I brought every single day to get better and to help guys around me.

“Overall, as a teammate and hopefully a role model, I try to approach every single day as the best pro. I think I showed this season that I’m elite at what I do. And I continue to try and show that every single day.”

For the second consecutive World Cup, the U.S. was eliminated in the round of 16. Adams was subbed off in the 72nd minute once the game was out of reach, and he spent the match’s final moments barefoot, sitting on a cooler. At the final whistle, he applauded the fans gracefully, then later walked off the pitch whispering with longtime friend and fellow USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie.

“As we walked off, Weston and I talked about how immediately you relate it to the feeling that we had in 2022 — and this was certainly, like, a different feeling than that,” Adams said. “In 2022, we were really emotional about getting knocked out. But in this World Cup, our immediate feeling was just being grateful for having the opportunity to represent your country on home soil in a World Cup.”

Perhaps that perspective comes from all Adams has experienced in the intervening four years, including nearly 100 top-flight matches and the birth of his two children.

Adams helped lead AFC Bournemouth to a sixth-place finish this year in the Premier League, the securing the Cherries’ first qualification for European competition with the best finish in the club’s 127-year history.

Over the past seven months, he exclusively shared insight into his life on and off the field with AFC Bournemouth and the USMNT with his monthly diary on Andscape and ESPN FC. He was the first world-class soccer player to share his diary with Andscape, joining the NBA and WNBA players who have participated in previous Andscape diary series.

“When this journey began, you don’t see it ending,” Adams said. “When you’re at the start of it, the finish line in your mind is July 19. That’s when the [World Cup] final is going to be. In my mind, it was that date. What I wanted more than anything was a homecoming to play in MetLife Stadium in New York. To play in the tri-state area for me would have been really special [as a native of Dutchess County, New York]. But I think everything happens for a reason.”

The following is Adams’ eighth and final diary with Andscape, recorded late Tuesday morning in Seattle.

The day after losing to Belgium, I’m not feeling great, but I have this overwhelming sense of gratitude, belief. Just grateful that we went through that journey together. It’s an incredible group of people that I got to spend nearly two months with. And we’ve grown a lot over that time. Once the dust settles, I think people will realize what we just did for the game and how we brought people together, and how the growth of the game will continue growing in our country. That growth is thanks to so many young, talented players and an amazing staff that came together and captured what the game means in this country now.

I just hope that the MLS is transformed because of what we did and what we showed people. It’s one of the main leagues in the world, and it has the capability of becoming one of the top leagues in the world. If you look at the stadiums we just played in, the crowds we just drew to come watch us play — the energy around these games and the support that we had could be the future of MLS. It could be the future of the academies. Future kids deciding which pathways to take; the U.S. has so much to offer. It’s just about bringing it all together.

It’s cool to see because every single one of us on this team came from a different pathway. I came from MLS. There are a few guys that are currently in the MLS on this roster. Some guys are playing in Europe. So for them to come home and experience something like this and see this support is incredible.

We have people wearing our jerseys on the streets. I hope that that’s timeless. I hope people are wearing our jerseys in the streets for the next four or five years, because that will show that we did something right.

In the first knockout game [against Bosnia-Herzegovina], we rose to the occasion, and you could see that when we stick together we’re a very challenging team to beat. The charisma and personality that we showed on that day is exactly what the U.S. is represented by. I was so happy for Malik [Tillman, who scored on a free kick to make it 2-0] because I feel like coming into this tournament, I don’t think he had the season he wanted to have in Bayer Leverkusen. That’s normal … we’re elite athletes, we’re challenging ourselves to be better every single day.

He had obviously just changed clubs. It was his first season there. It didn’t go the way he wanted, but he didn’t let that affect how he came in and how he trained every single day to get better. The free kicks he scored, that’s his quality. He was practicing those things every single day after training. So there’s no surprise that he executed it in some of the highest-level moments. He’s just a great person to be around, great person to have on this team. He’s a special player, and he’s got a bright future.

The Belgium game — it was just one of those days. I think anyone that’s played sports at any level understands. Some days you got it, some days you don’t. And yesterday was just one of those days where it just felt like anything that could go wrong went wrong. Do you know what I mean?

It wasn’t a lack of competitiveness. It wasn’t lack of togetherness. It wasn’t lack of belief. I don’t think it was any of those things. Sometimes there are moments in the game and you get them right, sometimes you get them wrong. And it just felt like we just got them wrong.

We win together. We enjoy the best moments together. But we lose together and we suffer together, and that’s what makes this sport incredible in the best moments and horrible in the worst moments.

There’s nothing better that Americans do than rally around each other when they’re wearing the red, white and blue. So, for me, it was just a really special moment in my career to be able to look in the stands, see my family, see my kids, and see the support that we have. And see that people really wanted us to succeed. There’s no better feeling than that.

I would not be in the situation I’m in without my family. That’s for sure. I’m so thankful every single day for my wife, Sarah, first and foremost. She’s a trooper in the way that she takes care of those boys [sons Jaxon and Myles] and raises them. They’ve got a bundle of energy and she’s on, going 24/7. It’s not easy being on the road for 40-plus days with two kids while I’m at work. But thankfully, she allowed me to focus on what I do best. And hopefully, we’re going to look back one day on this tournament and say, “That was a really special moment in our life.” So, I’m incredibly grateful to spend the best moments of my life with them.

There wasn’t a dull moment throughout our trip. And I think that’s what makes this group so special. Like, these are guys that we were living in dorms together when we were 15 years old. You know what I mean? We moved to Bradenton, Florida, hoping that one day we’d play in a World Cup. We didn’t know if we were actually going to play in a World Cup. You just take a gamble.

Myself, Weston, Christian [Pulisic] … these are kids that I’ve known forever. And now we’re older where we’re grown up and more mature. We’re seasoned. We have kids, all of us are at different points in our life, of course. But you just really remember those moments, sitting around a bonfire in Laguna Beach every single night together. The conversations that we had, the memories we made, those are things that will last a lifetime. So, I’m so grateful for every single person in this team. Everyone contributed at a high level, but the memories you make, those will last forever.

I think we proved that we can play a certain style of football and win with an attractive style of football. We had the grittiness, we had the tenacity, we had all those things. But we were playing high-quality football. The goals we were scoring, the chances we were creating — these were high-quality moments. Certainly, we’re able to compete with the best countries in the world now, athletically and technically. When it clicks, like what you saw in the few games that it did, we can create something special.

I hope people learned that we’re trying to move the needle in the right direction. And again, it doesn’t happen overnight. There’s a lot of people that believe in us, and I think we’ve learned about ourselves throughout this journey more than anything. But I know deep down, I know the feeling that I have is that we do have something special, that there’s a lot of special players, a lot of good young players coming through as well … so there’s something to really be excited about.

The support that I’ve received individually and as a team throughout this journey is incredible. It’s the best support I’ve ever received. It’s great to see a nation rally behind you, to have belief in you, to encourage you. For me, it’s continuing to have this belief now, right? It can’t stop here. We have an opportunity now to grow the sport bigger than it’s ever been in the U.S.

So, thank you. It doesn’t go unnoticed. And let’s keep this thing moving.

The post Tyler Adams World Cup diary: ‘We win together, we suffer together’ appeared first on Andscape.