USMNT captain Tyler Adams reflects on 'hostile' press conference at 2022 FIFA World Cup in buildup to USA vs Iran

In the recent Netflix documentary Captains of the World, Adams reflected on the incident where he incorrectly pronounced the country's name as "eye-ran", causing a controversy prior to the match. Reports even surfaced labeling it as "discrimination".

Recalling the incident, Adams said: “As soon as I walked into that press conference, you could just tell immediately how hostile it was about to be.” However, the 24-year-old recognized the situation and understood where the journalist was coming from, mentioning how "super important" it was for him to be educated on the manner prior.

"When he asked me that, it wasn’t him attacking me, me attacking him, or going at him in any sense. We knew we were going to deal with a lot of things that had nothing to do with our performance.”

The USA went on to win the match in the group stage against the Middle-Eastern side, with Christian Pulisic netting the winner in the 38th minute in a 1-0 victory. Although no true incidents followed or even proceeded the match, the two nation's history in politics caused a stir in the buildup. Adams did go on to apologize for his mispronunciation, however.

The USMNT captain is still sidelined due to injury, but is on his way back, with a return to action on the cards in the coming months. He has yet to play a Premier League match for Bournemouth since signing there in the summer.

Gregg Berhalter and co. are back on January 20 when they host Slovenia in an international friendly.