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‘All eyes will be on this game’: US captain Tyler Adams admits his team is ‘the underdog’ ahead of the game against ‘one of the favourites’ England…
US captain Tyler Adams admitted he knows his team will be the underdog when facing England in the World Cup on Black Friday.
The two rivals face each other in Group B on Friday as The Three Lions look to continue their winning streak as the USA look for the first three points of the tournament.
Gareth Southgate’s side defeated Iran 6-2 in Monday’s opening World Cup match thanks to a brace from Arsenal starlet Bukayo Saka, but the US suffered frustrations when they let a 1-0 lead fumble in the 82nd minute by to collect a penalty from Gareth Bale after a dominant first half against Wales.
US captain Tyler Adams (L) admitted he knows his team will be the underdog against England
As the teams prepare for the World Cup, the first time since the 2010 tournament when they shared the spoils, Adams admitted that his side is going up against one of the favourites.
But the Leeds United star claimed Gregg Berhalter’s team has the small advantage of being familiar with some of his players playing against the majority of England’s squad in the Premier League.
“England have a great team,” said Adams FOX Sports. They are probably one of the favorites to win the World Cup.
“So we know what we’re up against and we know we’re probably the underdogs going into the game.
“But we’ve always had an edge on our shoulders, we’ve always had a chip on our shoulders and because we’re playing against a lot of those guys week in and week out, you get a little bit of familiarity in the game.”
Adams insisted his team have a “chip on their shoulder” heading into the Black Friday clash
“We expect the coaches to come up with a good game plan and now it’s about us getting on the field and executing it.”
With the matchup coming the day after Thanksgiving, the US has even more incentive to take down its old enemies.
Adams claims the intense game will be one that will catch the attention of many back home in the United States and said he wanted to give them “something to be thankful for.”
Timothy Weah opened the scoring for the USA in their first World Cup match against Wales
Weah shot the ball past Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey (left) in the 36th minute.
But Bale (second from the right) leveled the score from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute
“All eyes will definitely be on this game,” he added. “Many of my relatives have already said they will have their turkey outside and watch the game and have some leftovers.
“For us, we just want to represent the 350 million people who could tune into this game in the best possible way. It will be a very exciting one, but we want to give them something to be thankful for.’
The match kicks off at 2pm EST on Black Friday, with US eyes also on the other Group B match between Wales and Iran at 5am as the Welsh are the US’s closest competitor to reach the knockout stage .