USMNT captain Tyler Adams produced a classy response after being called out by an Iranian journalist ahead of the USA’s clash against Iran on Tuesday.
Tensions will be high for Tuesday’s crunch match between the USA and Iran as both teams are in with a chance of qualifying for the next round of the World Cup.
Iran are in a better position and one point could be enough to see them secure a place in the last 16.
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USA are currently third in Group B after drawing against Wales and England.
Ahead of the match, USA captain Adams was called out by an Iranian journalist during the press conference.
The journalist said: “First of all, you say you support the Iranian people, but you're pronouncing our country's name wrong. Please once and for all, let's get this clear. Second of all, are you okay to be representing a country that has so much discrimination against black people in his own borders. And we saw the Black Lives Matter movement over the past few years. Are you okay to be representing the US meanwhile, there's so much discrimination happening against black people in America.”
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Adams first apologised to the journalist for the mispronunciation of Iran and continued to give a classy answer.
The Leeds midfielder said: “My apologies for the mispronunciation of your country.
“That being said there's discrimination everywhere you go. One thing that I've learned, especially from living abroad in the past years and having to fit in different cultures and kind of assimilate into different cultures is that in the US, we're continuing to make progress every single day.”
Adams added: “Growing up for me, I grew up in a white family with an obviously an African American Heritage and background as well. So I had a little bit of different cultures and I was very, very easily able to assimilate in different different cultures.
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“Not everyone has that, that ease and the ability to do that and obviously it takes longer to understand and through education, I think it's super important – like you just educated me now on the pronunciation of your country. It's a process I think, is as long as you see progress. That's the most important thing.”
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: USA, Football World Cup, Football
