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US Tyler Adams admits Qatar’s 10pm start times are a ‘big adjustment’ as Gregg Berhalter’s men prepare for opening World Cup Group B game with Wales
Tyler Adams has admitted that the late kick-off times in Qatar for the USMNT will require some adjustment as the team is set to start each of their three group stage matches at 10pm local time.
Adams has experience in later games due to his previous Champions League participation with RB Leipzig, but 10 p.m. will be a new challenge for the American squad.
“I think as far as I play at 10 p.m., I haven’t played at 10 p.m.,” said Adams.
Tyler Adams has spoken about the challenges of the USMNT’s late kickoffs in Qatar
‘Champions League games were obviously at 9, so quite late. But yeah, it’s a big adjustment.
“I think it was good for a lot of guys to come here a bit earlier, especially the guys who come from the US to adjust and get used to the time change and the time difference. Because for me it’s only three hours [time change from England]so I can’t complain too much about that.
Many of Adams’ teammates play for European clubs, so they won’t have to contend with massive time gaps, but some of the others from MLS have a head start to adapt.
Jesus Ferreira, Shaq Moore, Walker Zimmerman, Aaron Long, Jordan Morris, Kellyn Acosta, Cristian Roldan, DeAndre Yedlin and Sean Johnson arrived in Qatar more than a week ago after their seasons in the US.
Adams is expected to anchor Gregg Berhalter’s midfield in the opening game vs. Wales
Like Adams, centre-back Tim Ream arrived in Qatar from England, although he also acknowledged the difficulty of the late starts.
“The fact that it’s 10 p.m. is just one of those things that we deal with and adjust our body clocks [to]said the Fulham player.
“I think the staff and everyone involved with US Soccer, we’ve done a good job of making sure we do that and we’re adapting accordingly from the moment we landed.”
Tim Ream could play an important role in Qatar after being recalled to the USMNT squad
As the US and England face each other at 10pm on November 25, that will be the only late start in the group stage for the Three Lions.
Gareth Southgate’s group may also be more comfortable with the late start time as their Euro 2020 quarter-final vs. Ukraine at 21:00 local time kicked off.
The USA opens its tournament on Monday vs. Wales.