Josh Sargent could end a 2,118-day international goal drought Saturday when the United States plays South Korea in the first of eight friendlies coach Mauricio Pochettino will use to evaluate his player pool before his pre-World Cup training camp.
Rather than dwell on the dry spell, Sargent would rather concentrate on his hot start for Norwich in England's second-tier League Championship. The 25-year-old from O'Fallon, Missouri, has scored six goals in his club's first five games and captained the team in four matches.
“Of course I know it’s been a while,” he said Tuesday before the Americans' first training session with the full roster. “I’m doing so well at the club level at the moment — I just keep reminding myself how well I’m doing there. I know I can score goals and I know it’s a matter of time that I’m going to score for the national team. So just going to put my head down and keep working hard and I know the goals will come.”
Sargent joined Werder Bremen at the start of 2018, just before turning 18, and debuted that December. Instantly recognizable because of his bushy red hair, Sargent scored 11 Bundesliga goals in 70 games over three seasons before the team was demoted to the second division for 2021-22, then transferred to Norwich and scored four goals in 2022-23, getting braces against Bournemouth in the League Cup and Watford in the Premier League.
He remained with the Canaries after they were relegated and made three World Cup appearances for the U.S. that included starts against Wales and Iran. Sargent struggled with ankle injuries that cut short his 2021-22 season and led to surgery that caused a four-month layoff in the fall of 2023. Last season, he was out 2 1/2 months because of groin surgery and scored 11 goals in his final 20 league matches.
“Been feeling good for a while now,” Sargent said. “I think Norwich has done a good job of taking care of me and getting me back to a good spot. Obviously continue to do certain exercises in the gym to keep myself healthy.”
His strong start this season led to inquiries for a possible transfer to a first-tier club. Asked whether Sunderland and Wolfsburg had tried to acquired him, Sargent responded: “There were interests from multiple clubs. Obviously in the end didn’t work out, but that’s football sometimes.”
Just seven of 21 American goals in 12 matches this year have come from strikers: five by Patrick Agyemang ( recovering from hernia surgery) and one each by Haji Wright and Brian White. Sargent and Folarin Balogun, attending his first camp under Pochettino, are competing with them for World Cup roster spots along with Ricardo Pepi and Damion Downs.
Sargent was bypassed for this summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup, getting his notification by email. Pochettino didn't answer directly when asked about his Sargent's current selection, saying every player in the pool has “the possibility and the chance to show their quality and to convince us that they deserve to be in a place on the national team.”
Sargent scored in his U.S. debut against Bolivia on May 28, 2018, and has five goals in 28 international appearances — none since a pair vs. Cuba in the CONCACAF Nations League on Nov. 19, 2019.
“I’ve known that the guy can score goals since he was 15, 16 years old,” said defender Tim Ream, a St. Louis native who at 37 is the senior current America player. “It's not something that we're worried about. You look at what he’s doing at Norwich and at club, and the types of goals that he’s scoring, they’re all different. ... It's a matter of putting his head down and continuing to work and doing the things that he’s good at and the goals will definitely come.”
Americans over the years have put themselves in poor positions ahead of World Cups by spending time with clubs that have limited their playing time. Sargent is happy with his current team.
“A lot of decisions had to be made, not just for myself, but for my family,” said Sargent, who has a 3-year-old daughter, “Overall, I think I’m in a good spot at Norwich. I’m at a place where I know I can score goals, which, of course, is important going into the World Cup.”
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Ronald Blum, The Associated Press
