RALEIGH, N.C. — The newest scoring prospect for the U.S. men’s national soccer team is a 6-foot-4 striker with a slight Serbian accent who was born and bred in Wisconsin, carries American and British passports and is under contract with a club in England but amassing goals at a crazy rate for a team in the Netherlands.
His name is Andrija Novakovich. He’s 21. And through this week and part of next, he will aim to impress the interim head coach and interim assistants caretaking a program in transition after the spectacular failure to qualify for this summer’s World Cup.