Tyler Adams' classy response to an Iranian journalist has seen his stock rise off the field. Ahead of the United States' final game of Group B at the World Cup in Qatar, the Leeds United midfielder spoke with the press about the build-up to the game and ongoing issues in Iran.
After apologising to the journalist over the pronunciation of Iran, Adams went on to discuss how he felt representing the United States even though the journalist cited discrimination in the country. Black Lives Matter was an area that the journalist focused on, with the death of George Floyd a catalyst for action and protests across the globe in 2020.
When asked if he was okay representing a country that was discriminatory towards black people following the Black Lives Matter movement, Adams said: "My apologies on the mispronunciation of your country, that being said, there's discrimination everywhere you go.
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"One thing that I've learned, especially from living abroad in the past years and having to fit into different cultures and assimilate into different cultures, is that in the US we're continuing to make progress every single day.
"Growing up, I grew up in a white family with African-American heritage and background as well, so I had a little bit of different cultures and I was able to very easily assimilate into different cultures.
"Not everyone has that ease, the ability to understand and obviously it takes longer to understand, education is super important. Like you just educated me now on the pronunciation of your country. It's a process. I think as long as you see progress, that's the most important thing."
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