Haji Wright received the call from U.S. national soccer team coach Gregg Berhalter about six weeks ago — a call that, until this spring, was far from warranted.
For years, while many of his peers excelled overseas, the American striker had drifted around the European club scene without fulfilling the great promise he had shown at the youth national team level.
There were spells with clubs in Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark, but without a breakout season, he had become lost in the mix of young U.S. hopefuls overseas.
Then last year Wright moved to Turkey, and by the end of a sterling 2021-22 campaign in which he finished among the Super Lig’s top scorers, the 24-year-old forward had caught Berhalter’s eye.