Tab Ramos is thrilled to watch a new era of U.S. stars shine at the World Cup

It’s a story on its own that Tab Ramos, a Mount Rushmore U.S. men’s soccer star in the 1990s, is calling the current team’s games at the World Cup for Telemundo.

But this isn’t just a legend of the past commentating on the present. In eight years as the U.S. under-20 team’s head coach, Ramos coached nine of the 26 players on this U.S. squad: Kellyn Acosta, Tyler Adams, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Luca de la Torre, Sergiño Dest, Ethan Horvath, Josh Sargent, Tim Weah, and DeAndre Yedlin.

He coached many of the rest at other times, whether with the U-20s or as a top assistant with the senior squad from 2014-16.

“That’s a pretty good storyline,” Ramos told The Inquirer in an interview from Qatar on Thursday. “I’m pretty happy about that.”

He isn’t alone. Ramos teams with Telemundo’s top broadcast team of Andrés Cantor and Mexican ex-pro Manuel Sol for U.S. games. They’ve all watched this young squad grow and now thrive on the world’s biggest stage.

“I always get a little nervous when the U.S. team plays,” said Ramos, who was born in Uruguay, moved to northern New Jersey as a kid, and played at the 1990, ‘94, and ‘98 World Cups. “In particular in this case, knowing so many players and having been close to so many players, it means a lot more.”

» READ MORE: World Cup 2022: TV schedule, live streaming, kickoff times on Fox and Telemundo

Among the players he knows best is Adams, the current U.S. captain and its most outstanding player of this tournament so far. Ramos recalled watching his arrival with the under-20 team in 2016, leading to the 2017 under-20 World Cup.

“The first time I had him with me, we had a full-field scrimmage, in which I saw him play basically 20 minutes,” Ramos said. “I made him captain of the team, and he was two years younger than everyone else.”

Ramos saw the intangibles, too.

“His demeanor, his way of always demanding more from himself than everyone else, his leadership qualities — both as a spoken leader and as an action leader — were different than everyone else,” he said. “He’s a winner, always wanted to do whatever it took to win the games. … It always seemed to me that he was one of the very few players that I had over the eight years who had no distractions other than being as prepared as he could be to win the games.”

» READ MORE: Telemundo hasn't shied away from talking about Qatar's controversies

Weah was a teammate of Adams with the national team and the New York Red Bulls, which was Ramos’ last club home as the former MetroStars. Ramos didn’t coach Weah for long, but he did at the 2019 under-20 World Cup, and the talent was never in doubt.

“The timing of his runs is so perfect that if you just pair him up with a couple of midfielders who can pass, he will always be open,” Ramos said, a point proven by Weah’s outstanding goal against Wales. “I always felt with him, even when he played great, I felt like there was more there. And it’s exciting, because I watch him play now in the World Cup, and I still feel like there’s more there than what we’ve seen.”

In the 2017-18 under-20 cycle, Ramos was involved in keeping Dest, a dual U.S.-Dutch national, with the U.S. program. Former Union manager John Hackworth brought Dest to the U.S. under-17 program in 2016, and now the Netherlands was paying attention.

Ramos’ lobbying worked. Dest now is a World Cup starter, and, on Saturday, he’ll play the biggest game of his life against the country of his birth (10 a.m., Fox29, Telemundo 62, Peacock).

“The choice that he made has paid off for him,” Ramos said. “At the end of the day, it’s all up to the player, of course — we can’t give ourselves, as a soccer federation, credit for Sergiño Dest. … But I think it’s great that he’s been able to get all the opportunities that he’s gotten by being a U.S. national team player.”

» READ MORE: A scouting report on what the U.S. will face against the Netherlands

How does Ramos see the U.S.-Netherlands game going? He starts with the midfield trio of Adams, Weston McKennie, and Yunus Musah.

“There’s one thing about this team that I think all Americans obviously have to be excited about, and I’m sure they are all excited about,” Ramos said. “I think our three-man midfield matches up with — you name it.”

And name it he did: Croatia, France, Spain, and others.

“These guys are box-to-box guys,” he said. “One of them may not have the skill of a [France’s Antoine] Griezmann, one of them may not have the experience and savvy of a [Croatia’s Luka] Modrić, of course. But they’re good in a different way, and I think the three of them together, they are a force.”

Ramos’ big question is how much gas is left in the collective tank after three huge efforts in the group stage.

“We can play and beat any team that we’re not supposed to beat, and that’s an easy game for us to prepare for,” he said. “We just have a tough time getting a good result after a good result. … The Iran game was a big game, we got a big result, and we need another big result now. And I think mentally it’s going to be a little tougher for us than it was the other games.”

But he’s seen the U.S. do it already in Qatar, because the Iran game came after the marquee group-stage contest against England. The scoreless tie on Black Friday set up a win-and-advance finale, and the U.S. won it.

“It’s definitely special,” Ramos said. “What’s been happening with this team doesn’t surprise me. These guys are winners. They’ve proven that all along. It goes to show, you have a good generation of players come along, and they can make coaches look pretty good.”

Broadcasters, too.

» READ MORE: The Inquirer's soccer staff on what they've liked from the U.S. so far, and whether they can beat the Netherlands