Jeff Carlisle
ARLINGTON, Texas — United States international forward Haji Wright has been ruled out for the remainder of the Concacaf Gold Cup with an Achilles injury, U.S. Soccer announced on Saturday.
In a statement, the USSF added that Wright “will return to Coventry City for further evaluation and treatment.” Tournament rules stipulate that Wright can’t be replaced on the U.S. roster.
“Always sad to see a player leave, because the group was very good, and he’s a very good guy, and adds very good quality to the group, [a] different option,” USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino told reporters at a news conference shortly after the announcement.
“He’s a player that can play in different positions in the attack. Yes, sad situation, sad for him, sad for the team, but I think we need to prioritize his process to recovery.”
Wright, 27, scored as a substitute in the USMNT’s 5-0 tournament-opening win over Trinidad and Tobago, but he was held out of training in the run-up to the match against Saudi Arabia and was left off the game-day roster.
After the match, Pochettino said that an announcement regarding Wright’s status would be made in the coming days.
Wright was seen with his teammates getting off the bus prior to Saturday’s training session but was limited to gym work, according to a team spokesperson.
“He already arrived with some problems in his Achilles, and then we cannot fix the problem; he increased [his] pain,” Pochettino added Saturday. “That is why that [this] is the decision that we take.”
The injury is a tough blow for Wright, who was coming off a solid season with Coventry City in England’s second-tier Championship, scoring 12 goals in 31 league and cup appearances.
He had also been hoping to make a significant impression on Pochettino given that other forwards like AS Monaco’s Folarin Balogun, PSV Eindhoven’s Ricardo Pepi and Norwich City’s Josh Sargent were all not named to the final Gold Cup roster.
Information from ESPN’s Cesar Hernandez contributed to this report.
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