US forward Haji Wright will miss the rest of the Concacaf Gold Cup because of an injured left achilles.
A 27-year-old from Los Angeles, Wright scored in the 84th minute of last weekend’s opening 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago, 11 minutes after entering. He did not play in Thursday’s 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia and the US Soccer Federation said Saturday he will return to Coventry City for evaluation and treatment.
US coach Mauricio Pochettino said Wright arrived from the League Championship season with the achilles problem.
Wright cannot be replaced on the tournament roster. The US, who already have clinched a quarter-finals berth, play Haiti on Sunday in the Americans’ group stage finale.
“The problem increased the pain,” Pochettino said.
It’s unclear whether midfielders Tyler Adams and Johnny Cardoso will he healthy enough to start Sunday. Adams (turf toe) and entered in 62nd minute against Saudi Arabia and Cardoso (illness) entered in the 89th.
Three days after Juventus players, including Americans Tim Weah and Weston McKennie, stood behind US president Donald Trump during an Oval Office media briefing, Pochettino said he hopes the national team gets a White House invite.
“Very jealous because we didn’t receive an invitation,” Pochettino said. “Maybe we will have the luck and they will invite, one day for sure.”
Juventus players stood behind Trump during a 16-minute briefing.
“It was all a surprise to me, honestly – they told us that we have to go and I had no choice but to go,” Weah was quoted as saying after a 5-0 victory over Al-Ain that night in the Club World Cup. “I was caught by surprise, honestly. It was a bit weird. When he started talking about the politics with Iran and everything, it’s kind of like, I just want to play football, man.”
Seated aside Pochettino, American defender Chris Richards was asked what he felt like having to answer questions about international events.
“I think what makes America beautiful is we can all have different opinions, but kind of strive for the same thing, which is freedom in the prosperity,” Richards said. “In this tough political time, there’s a lot of stuff going on in the Middle East and things like that, but I think one thing that we can do is kind of give hope to people. That’s all we can do at this point, and we’re not politicians for a reason.”
