The United States men's national team may have struggled in last month's Concacaf Nations League Finals, but two of its forwards provided cause for optimism by getting on the scoresheet for their club teams in the English Championship on Saturday.
Josh Sargent, who started the the USMNT's 1-0 semifinal loss to Panama, struck a superb left-footed volley in Norwich City's 2-1 defeat to Plymouth Argyle. Meanwhile, Haji Wright, who did not feature for the U.S. as he continued to build back fitness following a lengthy injury absence, found the net for Coventry City in their 2-1 loss to Burnley.
Sargent has enjoyed a prolific campaign in England's second tier, with Saturday's goal taking him to 14 for the season and third place in the league's scoring charts.
However, the 25-year-old Missouri native failed to replicate that form for the USMNT, going scoreless against Panama before being substituted midway throuigh the second half and then failing to see any action in a defeat to Canada in the third-place match.
"It was a tough camp to say the least, I think, for everybody, to be honest," Sargent told local outlet PInk UN this week.
"It definitely didn't go the way we expected it to. With my performance, there was an unlucky deflection that hit the post, and I scored another goal that was offside.
"So I don't want to say I was thrilled about my performance because overall it was just a very lackluster game. But I just try my hardest every time I'm out there, and then it's the coach's decision."
It is now more than five years since Sargent scored for the USMNT.
"It's not like I've been at every single camp for five years," he added. "I think it's an easy thing to say that I don't score a lot for the national team, which obviously I want to be in form with the national team and score there as well.
"So I've just got to keep working hard and try to make that happen."
Wright, meanwhile, has picked up right where he left off since returning last month from an ankle injury that had sidelined him since November.
He scored his first hat trick in English soccer in Coventry's 3-0 win over Sunderland on March 15, and made it 11 goals in 21 league appearances with a close-range finish to give his team the early lead in Saturday's loss to Burnley.
Wright will now be looking to rejoin the USMNT when it returns to action in June with friendlies against Turkey and Switzerland ahead of this summer's Concacaf Gold Cup.
Also on Saturday, U.S. midfielder Malik Tillman scored in his first start for PSV Eindhoven since being sidelined for more than two months with an ankle injury. Tillman got PSV's first goal in their 3-1 Eredivisie win at Groningen.
