Haji Wright’s March international window was originally supposed to take place with the American forward receiving a slight break from action, but instead its featured Wright excelling for the U.S. men’s national team.
Wright came off the bench on Thursday and registered two extra time goals in the Americans’ 3-1 CONCACAF Nations League semifinal win over Jamaica. The in-form Coventry City striker scored the winning goal for Gregg Berhalter’s squad before adding an insurance tally only 13 minutes later.
After watching the USMNT concede the opening goal after 42 seconds, Wright was able to work his way onto the field and have a say in the final score.
“It was a difficult day for us,” Wright said postmatch to reporters. “We didn’t start well, obviously when then scored 1-0 in the first minute of the game. It was kind of hard to get into the game, they were in a low block and we were just trying to break them down the whole game.
“They did well for most of the game, but fortunately for us we got a goal in the 90th minute and once we scored we knew we were just going to keep going and destroy them really because they had nothing left in the tank,” he added. “We applied the pressure and were able to score two more goals.”
Wright’s 2024 has been filled with plenty of positive moments and Thursday’s performance will certainly go down as one of them. After scoring the winning goal for Coventry City in last week’s FA Cup quarterfinal triumph over English Premier League side Wolves, Wright now has his first two USMNT goals under his belt since the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
He originally wasn’t chosen in Berhalter’s 23-player roster, but Josh Sargent’s recent injury forced the USMNT head coach to make a switch. Wright, who was set for a short family vacation in Dubai with his girlfriend this month, changed his plans and now the USMNT is reaping the rewards of having him in the squad.
“He actually got…
Source link : https://sbisoccer.com/2024/03/gregg-berhalter-praises-haji-wrights-character-after-impactful-nations-league-showing
Author : Larry Henry Jr
Publish date : 2024-03-22 12:13:00
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