USA vs. Wales, 2022 World Cup: Man of the Match

The United States Men’s National Team kicked off their World Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw with Wales in the opening match of group stage play. After a solid first half that included taking the lead on a wonderful Timothy Weah goal it looked like the US might be able to hang on and capture all three points. Unfortunately they would stumble in the second half and have to settle for the draw and one point from the match. There were a few worthy candidates for the Man of the Match, with Weah picking up the goal, Christian Pulisic the assist, and Tim Ream putting in the sort of match at center back that fans have been clamoring for.

However, it was Tyler Adams, whose presence all over the pitch on Monday had the most impact for the team and whose performance was voted Man of the Match by the SSFC community. Adam’s was a duel-winning machine, consistently shutting down threats from Wales and looking to transition the US to offense.

It was a rough night for the official who was pretty consistently bad, and Berhalter’s initial lineup, which seemed pretty ideal, wasn’t enough to save him from being slow to adapt in the second half to keep up with Wales. From a player perspective, Walker Zimmerman’s penalty conceded was enough to cost him the low ranking for the day.

The ratings for all of the players who appeared on the field:

Tyler Adams - 7.89

Tim Weah - 7.60

Tim Ream - 7.21

Matt Turner - 7.00

Antonee Robinson - 6.81

Christian Pulisic - 6.63

Yunus Musah - 6.40

Brenden Aaronson - 6.21

Sergino Dest - 5.94

Josh Sargent - 5.75

Weston McKennie - 5.61

Kellyn Acosta - 5.21

DeAndre Yedlin - 5.09

Haji Wright - 4.86

Jordan Morris - 4.46

Gregg Berhalter - 4.38

Walker Zimmerman - 4.27

Referee - 2.93

Was Adams your man of the match or would you have selected someone else? What will you take away from the match moving forward? Let us know in the comments section below.