Haji Wright’s winding road back to USMNT picture could take him to the World Cup

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It seems that just about everyone connected with the United States men’s national team is pulling like mad for Haji Wright.

In many respects, it’s because the path his career has taken is so relatable in that little has come easy to him. Granted, there was a time when he was the latest next big thing in U.S. soccer. Along with Christian Pulisic, he was tabbed early as one of the players to watch from the U.S. U17 national team in 2005. Pulisic acknowledged that he and Wright “were the duo back in the day.”

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But while Pulisic went on to enjoy near-instant success at the professional level, Wright has found a tidal wave of struggle, bouncing around among myriad clubs. With it, he has experienced the challenges of adapting to different teams, managers and cultures. There was also the weight of expectations, and even worse, his disappearing from the national-team radar to the extent that there weren’t any expectations at all.

“It definitely hasn’t been linear,” Wright said during a roundtable with reporters about his career path. “A lot of ups and downs, had a lot of good patches and rough patches. I think I’ve persevered through the rough patches and I’ve enjoyed the good patches.”

Right now certainly counts as a good patch. Wright is coming off a club season with Turkish side Antalyaspor in which he scored 15 goals in 35 league and cup appearances, a campaign so impressive that it earned him a call-up to the full national team.

Wright began to repay that faith last Wednesday, scoring a penalty on his international debut in a 3-0 win over Morocco. But the manner of his goal and its aftermath showed just how much people are pulling for him. When Wright asked Pulisic if he could take the penalty, his former youth international teammate was only too happy to oblige. And when Wright converted, he was embraced by another…