'That's football' - Leeds United man reacts as victory escapes his side in World Cup debut - YEP 22/11/22

Leeds United midfielder Tyler Adams has spoken of his pride as a young US Men's National Team side took a point from their opening World Cup game against Wales.

By Graham Smyth

Adams, appointed US captain on the eve of the tournament in Qatar, was a standout performer against the Welsh and had to be in the second half in particular.

The US took a first half lead through Tim Weah's fine finish, following good work by Christian Pulisic, but Rob Page's half-time change and the introduction of targetman Kieffer Moore changed the game entirely and led to a difficult second half for Adams' team.

Eventually, the Welsh pressure told and Gareth Bale won a penalty that he himself converted to secure a 1-1 draw in Group B.

Adams, who along with a number of his team-mates was making his World Cup debut, was upbeat despite the way Wales were able to come back and snatch a result.

"That's football in the end," said the Whites summer signing, speaking to Fox Sports.

"I'm very proud of the team with the start that we had. We played with a bunch of confidence today, and for a large part of the game, we dominated the game. So for a lot of us, being our first World Cup, you can see an ambitious group, a fearless group and we came after it. But it comes down to the smallest details in the games like this. A penalty kick in the end, but we have to keep our heads held high. We go away with a point, and we have to focus on the next game now."

Adams felt the US held out well despite some pressure that could have led to a Wales winner and felt the overall performance was a satisfactory one, even if they weren't able to take all three points ahead of a daunting game against England on Friday night.

"We had to adapt in certain situations during this game," he said.

"Obviously after the goal, they gained a little bit of momentum, and we had to deal with that. They were throwing balls in the box. But in the end, we dealt with it well. We created a match plan, we were disciplined in the match plan and we followed it. Obviously we couldn't execute and get another goal in the end, but we kept level-headed and we took a point out of it. So that's good."

Adams' Leeds team-mate Brenden Aaronson featured in the match as a second half substitute and headed a half chance wide of the Wales goal in a brief spell of American dominance following his introduction.

On-loan Whites winger Daniel James was also involved, starting for Wales before being withdrawn at half-time by Page.