Jan. 23, 2021 will forever be a day that USMNT midfielder Tyler Adams remembers after scoring his first Bundesliga goal for RB Leipzig on Saturday.
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Adams has been at RB Leipzig for two years now, and even scored a stunning winner in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals back in August, but the 21-year-old New York Red Bulls academy product had somehow never managed to find the back of the net in the Bundesliga before today.
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While Adams will undoubtedly (hopefully) score prettier goals in his career — hello, Champions League quarterfinal goal! — the fact that one of, if not the, most important players for the USMNT is healthy and playing virtually every game for a title-contending side while managing to chip in with his first league goal is the real story here.
American Tyler Adams scores his first Bundesliga goal 👏 pic.twitter.com/ceqTCNn7CL
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 23, 2021
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Adams was deployed as a right midfielder/wing back in a 3-4-3 system on Saturday, which doesn’t exactly suit the USMNT’s best interests as Gregg Berhalter seems to favor him at the no. 6 position, but again, the fact he’s injury-free and forcing Julian Nagelsmann to find a way to get him on the field game in and game out is a massive win for the Yanks in its own right.
🇺🇸 Today is the 38th Bundesliga game for Tyler Adams.
— Paul Carr (@PaulCarr) January 23, 2021
🇺🇸 He had played more Bundesliga games without a goal than any other U.S. non-keeper.
🇺🇸 That "honor" now returns to Gregg Berhalter, who played 23 Bundesliga games without scoring.
Leipzig entered the weekend four points back of eight-time defending champions Bayern Munich, who will visit bottom-of-the-table Schalke and breakout American prospect Matthew Hoppe on Sunday.