The USA’s striker situation for this summer’s World Cup. If the topic sounds familiar, well, it was a major storyline back in 2022 as well.
Four years ago, there were questions about who would emerge, who would take control of the opportunity, and who would score goals. Former coach Gregg Berhalter brought Josh Sargent, Haji Wright and Jesus Ferreira to Qatar. Only Wright scored in the USA’s final match – an accidental goal in the 76th minute of the round of 16 loss to Netherlands, but it was a goal nonetheless.
Now, it’s Mauricio Pochettino’s turn to figure out who will give the Americans the best chance up top. The U.S. manager is likely to also bring three strikers to the World Cup. Folarin Balogun seems to be the No. 1 option. Ricardo Pepi, despite working his way back from injury, also seems poised to be in the team.
So where does that leave the rest of the competition? In the English Championship.
Patrick Agyemang is fighting for a World Cup spot. (Photo by Paul Bonser/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Patrick Agyemang has been consistently improving his game in England’s second division. Last summer, the 6-foot-4 striker left Major League Soccer’s Charlotte FC for Derby County, and his performance has commanded attention from Pochettino and his staff. Over the weekend, Agyemang scored on a header in the second half of a 2-0 win over Swansea City. He is tied to lead the club with 10 goals this season, and has scored four in the last six games.
[WORLD CUP: Who Makes the USA’s 26-man roster?]
Agyemang hasn’t been with the U.S. in fairly a while, nevertheless. He was final known as up in October, however didn’t play in both match. His final look for the squad was when he began within the Gold Cup ultimate vs. Mexico in July.
Agyemang is in a robust place to make his first World Cup squad, however one other Championship striker can be making his case. Wright has 13 objectives for Coventry Metropolis – he scored a hat trick in a 3-1 win over Middlesbrough on Monday, which put the group on the high of the desk (which might Coventry attain the Premier League). This type of efficiency was big for Wright, who had been experiencing a little bit of a scoring drought. Getting into Monday, he had solely scored two objectives in his final 19 league video games.
That has to bode properly for him forward of the March window, which will likely be an important interval in figuring out who Pochettino is severely contemplating for his World Cup roster.
Josh Sargent is a longshot at this level to succeed in the World Cup. (Photograph by David Watts/MI Information/NurPhoto through Getty Photos)
And what about Sargent? He hasn’t scored for the nationwide group in six years and wasn’t known as up final fall for the October or November camps. His membership saga isn’t serving to his standing. Sargent was as soon as upon a time a scoring machine for Norwich Metropolis. However he desires a switch to MLS and since nothing has materialized but, he’s been demoted to the under-21 squad and hasn’t suited up for the senior group since early January. For issues to work out for Sargent this summer season, he’ll want to start out taking part in and scoring once more ASAP.
The World Cup roster is predicted to be launched in Might. However Pochettino mentioned the event primarily begins in March. The clock is ticking for everybody, however maybe probably the most scrutiny lies inside the striker pool.
