Josh Sargent gives USA hope in trophy quest after 2018 World Cup qualifying failure

The 17-year-old won the silver boot at the U-20 World Cup with four goals and an assist, a few months ago, and gives USA hope in their current run for the prestigious troph.
USA's captain Josh Sargent Red competes for the ball with Ghana players during their FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 football match in New Delhi on Monday. | PTI
USA's captain Josh Sargent Red competes for the ball with Ghana players during their FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 football match in New Delhi on Monday. | PTI

NEW DELHI: India is not the first time Josh Sargent is going to a World Cup. Just a few months ago, he was booting up for the United States in the U-20 World Cup. Just getting regular playing time at that level would have been impressive for a 17-year-old, but Sargent did one better. He won the silver boot at the tournament with four goals and an assist.

Sargent is a striker in the Harry Kane mould. He isn't the most physical or the fastest player on the pitch, nor does he do fancy stepovers. Indeed the only thing that stands out about him is that he scores a bucketload of goals. But Sargent says his game is much more than that. "Going into this (tournament), my objective was never to score as many goals," he says. "I obviously want to score a lot, but the main goal was always to win the game for my team."

Sargent does not agree with the assessment that his performance at the U-20 World Cup increases the goal-scoring responsibility on his shoulders. A completely different role is how he describes it. And it translates on to the field, where he is content to let the likes of Tim Weah, Ayo Akinola and Andrew Carleton wander ahead of him. "The U-20 World Cup, it's obviously about a bunch of players who are bigger faster and stronger," Sargent says. "And it's a little bit of a different role in that team, I was new coming in. This team, I'm the captain and they expect me to lead."

After the World Cup, Sargent will take what they now call the 'Christian Pulisic route' in the USA. Pulisic, after joining Borussia Dortmund, has developed into the kind of talent who'll walk into most teams in the world.

Since then, Weston McKennie has also forced his way into the Schalke first team. Now Sargent has inked a deal with Werder Bremen. "From a very young age, I've always wanted to go to Europe," he says. "It's been my dream. It's obviously very hard leaving your family behind at this age. But you see a couple of young Americans like Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie, so I think it's a good path for me. Pulisic's success was definitely a factor, like you can see how well he is doing now. Bundesliga is one of the best
leagues in the world in my opinion and it's an honour to be able to play for a club like Werder Bremen. 

"It's (football in US) developing a lot. It's still going through that process but I definitely think there is hope. I don't want to rip on the US or anything, but Europe is the best in terms of developing a player," he says.

The U-17 team's run to the quarters of the tournament has been the lone bright spot in what has been a drab week for the sport in USA. Last Wednesday, a loss to Trinidad & Tobago meant that the senior team failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 1986. Sargent reckons the onus is on him and his teammates to brighten the mood.

"I think it's quite a bit of pressure for us," he says. "We're doing our bit to forget about it, but it's the reality for us. I think this team is capable of going very far."

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