Carlmont's Tahar tears up competition

For Tahar, the beautiful game had provided him with some of the best moments of his life. Tahar, the Daily Journal's Athlete of the Week, knew something was wrong. He just didn't know it was going to be this bad.

"I was traumatized," he said. "I was frustrated and couldn't believe it. I got lightheaded. I can't live without soccer, and now you're going to tell me I'm not going to play again? It was too much to take."

Visibly shaken, Tahar found light in his moment of darkness. His mom, Marybeth, was right by his side, providing comfort like all loving moms do. Immediately after the doctor told Adam that his soccer career was in jeopardy, Marybeth told her son, "You're a fighter. You'll play again."

That's all Tahar needed to hear. After wearing a cast and boot for five months, Tahar attacked rehab the same way he does opponents: all-out, with nothing to chance.

He came back healthy and strong for his junior year, scoring 14 goals and emerging as one of the best players in San Mateo County. Today, he might very well be the County's best. Last Friday, Tahar scored four goals in a 5-0 pasting of Half Moon Bay -- giving him 15 on the season entering Monday's Peninsula Athletic League playoff game. With each score the 6-foot, 170-pound forward showed an array of skills not often seen at the high school level.

But it's his tremendous dribbling skills and ability to take a pass, control the ball and simultaneously gain speed that sets him apart. On two of his goals he made a run of over 20 yards before unleashing laser shots into the net. Early in the second half, he was surrounded by three Half Moon Bay defenders but eluded them all by keeping the ball on his body for a good five seconds, never letting it touch the ground. Only when he dribbled by the defenders did the ball touch the turf.

It's no surprise that Tahar possesses tremendous body control and balance. His dad, Fadhel, who played semi-professionally in France, taught Tahar everything he needed to know about the game. In Tahar's adolescent years, Fadhel offered ice cream to his son if he could juggle the ball 10 times in one setting. The exercises improved Tahar's focus, concentration and determination. Even today, Tahar goes to his dad for advice.

"Everytime soccer gets complicated, he sits me down and we watch a (professional game) together," Tahar said. "He'll say, 'Look, it's simple. You pass the ball, and you make the run.' He tells me to see the field and open up the entire game. He's been great. And the best part is he still thinks he's better than me, but we'll find out one day."

Soccer runs in Tahar's family. His younger brother, Zack, a freshman at Carlmont, was called up to the varsity for the rest of the season. Zack, a defender, is already taller than Adam but not as refined. Not yet anyway.

"You'll be talking to him in the future for sure," Adam said. "He plays for a club team that is the top five in his age bracket in the nation. We have a big-time (sibling) rivalry, but it's in good competition."

For a soccer player to have the complete package, he or she must possess both superior talent and the mental wherewithal to improve every time they're on the field. That's Tahar in a nutshell.

"He's got the heart of a lion, and it rubs off on the team," Carlmont coach Jason Selli said. "He's a pretty confident guy, has got great footwork and a motor that doesn't stop. He stays composed and he's our catalyst for sure."

Tahar made an impact from the moment he was called up the varsity team in his sophomore year. Late in the season, the Scots needed some help up front because former standout Froylan Roldan left the school and signed a professional contract in Mexico. In Tahar's first varsity game, he scored two goals. Not bad for someone who was nervous with anticipation.

"Personally, I didn't think I was ready to play varsity," Tahar said. "To score two goals my first time out, it was a big boost. I felt like a little kid playing against mostly 18-year-olds. I didn't think I was going to match up with them."

Tahar has the mindset of a champion. Take his four-goal game. He accomplished that feat on only five shots. But ask Tahar what he remembered most about the game, and it was that lone clunker, a header that barely missed.

"That stuck with me," he said. "I called it and missed. The whole team afterwards said, 'Strike one.' I knew I was going to hear it."

No one can ever question Tahar's dedication or toughness. During the offseason, he tries to practice with most of his teammates, so they can further their chemistry and cohesiveness. It's obviously paid off this season, as the Scots earned a share of the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division championship.

And he's even sacrificed doing gravity-defying tricks on his snowboard -- although you can bet Selli would rather have Tahar put down the board altogether. Tahar, who went snowboarding two weeks ago, was about to go again over the weekend until he learned there was a Saturday morning practice. No worries, Tahar said. The team comes first.

"I love snowboarding," Tahar said. "But right now soccer is No. 1. When I go snowboarding during the season, I'll save my tricks and stuff until after the season is over. That's when I'll go crazy. I'll do anything you can get an adrenaline rush off of."

Tahar knows he can get through any type of adversity he'll face in the future because he's already been through a lot. He only went to the doctor two years ago because his mom said enough was enough. It was March of his sophomore year, and the pain had lingered in his foot for six months. But Tahar's dad said it was fine, and he toughed it out.

Had he waited any longer, there would've been permanent damage. As it is, Tahar has two screws in his left foot, which gets sore after long workouts. Couple that with a right ankle he broke a few years back, and you can see why Tahar is subjected to more pain than the average player.

"The pain fades away during the game," he said. "I'm on an adrenaline rush, and everything else disappears. It was tough going through the injuries, but I had no doubt in my mind that I would come back."

Now we know why.