ARLINGTON, Texas — Haji Wright was at an airport in England last weekend about to leave for Dubai during the international break when his phone rang. U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter asked him to replace injured Josh Sargent on the American roster.
“My whole family’s here. My agent’s already there and my girlfriend’s going – she planned the whole thing,’” Berhalter remembered Wright telling him.
“I know you got your parents, the bags are packed and you’re at the airport, but just think about it for 10 minutes and give me a call back,” the coach said.
“He called me back and he said, ‘I’m in.’ And when I heard that, it really shows what type of guy he is, what type of character he is,” Berhalter added.
The United States escaped defeat with an own goal in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, Wright scored twice in extra time and the Americans rallied past Jamaica, 3-1, on Thursday night to reach the CONCACAF Nations League final against Mexico.
Greg Leigh scored 30 seconds in for the 57th-ranked Reggae Boyz, and the No. 13 Americans were on the verge of losing their third straight match. Instead, Wright scored in the sixth and 19th minutes of extra time and the U.S. will try to win the Nations League for the third straight time on Sunday.
“The start of my season wasn’t so great, and I just have to keep pursuing and testing my abilities,” said Wright, whose extra time goal last weekend lifted Coventry City to an FA Cup quarterfinal.
Both of Wright’s goals were set up by Gio Reyna, who entered at the start of the second half after being limited to 42 minutes over four substitute appearances for Nottingham Forest since he was loaned from Borussia Dortmund on Jan. 31.
“When we scored in the last minute, I knew we had the depth in the legs and the energy for the last 30 minutes to get a few more goals,” Reyna said.
Four minutes of second-half stoppage time originally were signaled by Honduran referee Selvin Brown…
Read the full article here
