Leeds United's Tyler Adams makes huge claim in USA TV outing and breezes new off-field question

Whites midfielder and USA captain Adams once again impressed in playing another full match for his country in Tuesday night's must win group stage finale against Iran in Qatar. The USA knew that only a victory would send them into the competition's last 16 and Adams helped start the move that led to Christian Pulisic netting the only goal of the game eight minutes before the break.

With Pulisic then becoming injured, Adams was joined in the second half by his Leeds team mate Brenden Aaronson who was introduced as a half-time substitute and helped Gregg Berhalter's side over the line for a 1-0 victory. The USA will now face Netherlands in the last 16 on Saturday afternoon and a confident Adams says his side have the qualities befitting a team who could be crowned World Cup winners.

"A huge relief," said Adams on Good Morning America, asked for the first feeling upon seeing off Iran. "I think for us, it was our goal coming into the World Cup to get out of the group. But now anything can happen. We have that American mentality that in a play-off setting, we might be the underdogs but anything can happen. The mentality of the group - we are a fearless group, brave, relentless, diverse. We have all the qualities of a team that can go out and win this thing so we have confidence in our group and now it's about going out and executing it."

Adams has impressed on and off the pitch in Qatar and the 23-year-old's classy response to a question from an Iranian journalist in a spikey press conference this week went viral. Adams was criticised by an Iranian journalist for his pronunciation of Iran and then challenged on representing a country that has issues with racial discrimination. Adams, though, admirably kept his cool before delivering a measured response which drew praise all around the globe.

"That's another thing that's impressed about this group is we've been laser focused on our goal and our objectives coming into this tournament," said Adams, asked about any possible off field distractions and the Iranian journalist episode. "That's part of the job. There's always going to be a lot of outside noise but how we have handled that has allowed us for a lot of success on the field. We're just trying to make everyone back at home proud. The support has been amazing. We love the country, we love repping it but we're going to do everything we can to bring this thing home."