Josh Sargent has been banging in goals consistently for EFL Championship side Norwich City this winter and now aims to carry that form over to his latest international opportunity.
Sargent is part of Mauricio Pochettino’s roster for Thursday’s CONCACAF Nations League semifinal showdown with Panama. The Missouri native leads the Canaries with 12 goals this season, with eight of those tallies coming in 2025 alone.
Although Sargent hasn’t scored for the USMNT since November 2019, he’s staying confident on delivering in his first call up of the new year.
“It’s obviously going to be in the back of my head a little bit,” Sargent said about his USMNT scoring drought. “But at the same time it’s just been a weird run I think for a while now with injuries and whatnot and I’ve been very happy with the goals I’ve been able to score at the club level, but definitely want to produce the same stuff while on that national team.
“So I think this camp is another good opportunity for me and hopefully I can start doing that,” he added.
Sargent missed parts of three months earlier this season due to a groin injury but has since battled back to find his old goalscoring form. The 25-year-old has helped Norwich City stay mathematically alive in the top-six race, despite the club failing to win in any of its last four matches.
Coming into camp as one of the in-form players, Sargent fully believes he can play a key role thanks to his club production.
“I think as long as I focus on those, everything seems to get in place for me to score, and I’ve been taking those opportunities, been feeling really good,” Sargent said. “But yeah, I think in these moments you don’t want to overthink it too much. It’s kind of a flow state where everything is just happening for you and yeah, at the moment it’s going really well.”
The EFL Championship schedule is truly one of the more grueling schedules in all of European Football. A 46-match schedule, which features plenty of two-match-per week slates, certainly tests the fitness of Sargent and many of his club teammates.
Many others in the USMNT squad are also in the gut-check point of their club schedules, with two matches remaining, and multiple competitions still in action. Sargent praised the USMNT’s ability to translate quickly from club to international action, especially on short rest.
“It’s a very fast turnaround,” Sargent said. “Of course, guys are flying in different days, but I think the other teams have to deal with that as well. The staff here are amazing at getting us prepared. They’re doing everything they can to help us with sleep and recovery, nutrition, and yeah, I think all of us know each other for the most part. All of us have already gelled together really well and just got to get right at it.”
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