Josh Sargent hasn’t scored for the USMNT in six years, but he’s a prolific striker for his club

Josh Sargent’s track record as a striker is so odd that sometimes, it just doesn’t make sense.

How is it that a player with 50 goals in the last four seasons for England’s Norwich City hasn’t scored for the U.S. national team in six years?

It’s a question that perplexes many people.

Even considering his injury history, which is unfortunately rather long, the drought speaks volumes. Since his last national team goal in November 2019, Sargent has played in two Concacaf Nations League final fours, three World Cup qualifiers, the 2022 World Cup, and last year’s Copa América, and has still not found the net.

A scuff here, a hit just wide there, a crossbar some other time.

In the Nations League semifinals in March, a shot from an ideal position that hit a Panama defender, then banked off the post and stayed out. And a few minutes later, a drilled finish that was ruled out because someone else was offside in the buildup.

What kind of cruel fate is that?

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Sargent’s stock fell so far that when U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino left him off this summer’s Gold Cup roster, it wasn’t surprising. When Pochettino cited “footballing reasons” for the decision, it was hard to disagree.

Since then, Sargent has responded in the best way possible. The 25-year-old has scored five goals in six games to start Norwich’s new season, forcing his way back into the U.S. squad this month.

Will that form finally carry over to the national team? Saturday’s game against South Korea (Saturday, 5 p.m., TNT, Telemundo 62) and next Tuesday’s contest with Japan (7:30 p.m., TNT, Telemundo 62) would be great times to find out.

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“I’d probably be lying if I said I didn’t think about it,” Sargent said Tuesday in a news conference from the U.S. team’s training camp this week in Whippany, New Jersey, the training grounds of Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls. “Of course I know it’s been a while. I’m doing so well at the club level at the moment, I just keep reminding myself how well I’m doing there.”

Some outsiders have looked at what’s different between how a club game is played and how a national team game is played. In particular, Sargent often has more space to run in to off the ball in Norwich games than he does in U.S. games, especially against Concacaf teams that bunker in defensively.

But he doesn’t see it that way.

“I think it’s a tough question, just because even in the league, there’s so many different ways that the teams play,” Sargent said. “Some sit in and just want to counter and go long, some want to actually play on the ball, and it’s the same on the international level. Obviously there’s different personnel, there’s a few different tactics with what the coaches want, but overall I think there’s a lot of similarities wherever you play in football.”

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At one point, he revealed he hasn’t had many conversations with Pochettino outside of national team windows, which might ruffle some fans’ feathers. But that’s closer to the way the rest of the world does things than how the U.S. traditionally has.

“They don’t have to call me, I understand,” Sargent said. “I kind of just took it as, you know, rest up during the offseason and hit the ground running with Norwich to make sure that I’m back into the next camp. I think I’ve done a very good job with that at the club level, and I think that’s why I’m here, and again, hopefully I can keep performing and do that here as well.”

There is belief around the U.S. camp that he will, starting with his fellow St. Louis-area native Tim Ream.

“I mean, I don’t think anybody really worries about it, to be completely honest with you,” the veteran centerback said as he sat next to Sargent on the call. “I’ve known that the guy can score goals since he was 15, 16 years old, and then followed his path and his career so far. … It’s just 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.”

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Ream also noted the variety of goals Sargent has scored for Norwich, and there’s something instructive in that. His last tally, a run and blast from 18 yards this past Saturday, is for sure the kind scored by a confident player.

So was a finish the Saturday prior, a run past the opposing defense — the kind he rarely gets to make with the U.S. — and deft chip over an onrushing goalkeeper.

Put all of this together and it’s a reminder that soccer is a mental game as much as a physical one. At this point, Sargent could end his drought with a tap-in from the goal line, and the impact would be the same as a long-range smash.

It could even be like his first goal of the season for Norwich, where he pressed the goalkeeper and blocked a clearance straight back into the net. He hasn’t had that kind of good luck in a U.S. jersey in ages.

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However the ball gets there, it will finally lift that burden, and go a long way toward solidifying the national team depth chart heading toward the World Cup. On talent, the top three should be Sargent, Ricardo Pepi (who’s out of this camp for injury rehab), and Folarin Balogun. That’s enough to take into a tournament, plus one more if there’s a hot hand in the moment.

“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,” Sargent said. “So I’m just going to put my head down and keep working hard, and I know the goals will come.”