Wright’s two late goals lift U.S.
Haji Wright was at an airport in England last weekend about to leave for Dubai during the international break when his phone rang. U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter asked him to replace injured Josh Sargent on the American roster.
“My whole family’s here. My agent’s already there and my girlfriend’s going — she planned the whole thing,’” Berhalter remembered Wright telling him.
“I know you got your parents, the bags are packed and you’re at the airport, but just think about it for 10 minutes and give me a call back,” the coach said.
“He called me back and he said, ‘I’m in.’ And when I heard that, it really shows what type of guy he is, what type of character he is,” Berhalter added.
The United States escaped defeat with an own goal in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, Wright scored twice in extra time and the Americans rallied
ARLINGTON, TEXAS »
past Jamaica 3-1 Thursday night to reach the CONCACAF Nations League final against Mexico, which beat Panama in the second semifinal.
Greg Leigh scored 30 seconds in for the 57th-ranked Reggae Boyz, and the No. 13 Americans were on the verge of losing their third straight match. Instead, Wright scored in the sixth and 19th minutes of extra time and the U.S. will try to win the Nations League for the third straight time on Sunday.
“The start of my season wasn’t so great, and I just have to keep pursuing and testing my abilities,” said Wright, whose extra time goal last weekend lifted Coventry City to an FA Cup quarterfinal.
Both of Wright’s goals were set up by Gio Reyna, who entered at the start of the second half after being limited to 42 minutes over four substitute appearances for Nottingham Forest since he was loaned from Borussia Dortmund on Jan. 31.
“When we scored in the last minute, I knew we had the depth in the legs and the energy for the last 30 minutes to get a few more goals,” Reyna said.
Four minutes of secondhalf stoppage time originally were signaled by Honduran referee Selvin Brown and later five, and the clock was at 5:25 when Christian Pulisic’s corner kick to the near post was headed across by Miles Robinson. The ball deflected off Jamaican forward Corey Burke and past goalkeeper Andre Blake, the latest goal for the Americans since Ricardo Clark scored in the seventh minute of stoppage time to beat Venezuela 1-0 in a 2012 exhibition.
“We feel that the game was finished before this corner came,” Jamaica coach Heimir Hallgrímsson said.
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK
NBA
Favorite
at Lakers Clippers Boston Oklahoma City at San Antonio at Miami at Minnesota at Golden St
Favorite
at Florida Atl at Baylor at San Diego St at Marquette at UConn
New Mexico at Auburn at Florida at Nebraska at Duke at Purdue at Alabama at Houston at Wisconsin TCU at St. Mary’s
NHL
Favorite
Carolina at Dallas at Colorado at Arizona
Line (O/U)
9 (2271⁄2) 13 (2181⁄2) 13 (224) 15 (229) 6 (219)
11⁄2 (209) Off (Off) 4 (2371⁄2)
College Basketball
Line
31⁄2 131⁄2 71⁄2 141⁄2 261⁄2 21⁄2 121⁄2 11⁄2 11⁄2 121⁄2 261⁄2 91⁄2 231⁄2 51⁄2 31⁄2 51⁄2
Line
Underdog
Philadelphia at Portland at Detroit at Toronto Memphis New Orleans Cleveland
Indiana
Underdog
Northwestern Colgate
UAB W Kentucky
Stetson at Clemson
Yale Colorado Texas A&M
Vermont Grambling Charleston Longwood James Madison
at Utah St Grand Canyon
Underdog
-194/+162 at Washington -192/+158 Pittsburgh -335/+265 Columbus Off/Off Seattle
EAST REGIONAL
First Round
Today’s games At Barclays Center Brooklyn, N.Y.
UConn (31-3) vs. Stetson (22-12), 11:45 a.m. FAU (25-8) vs. Northwestern (21-11),
9:15 a.m.
At Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Spokane, Wash.
San Diego St. (24-10) vs. UAB (23-11), 10:45 a.m.
Auburn (27-7) vs. Yale (22-9), 1:15 p.m.
Thursday’s results
At CHI Health Center Omaha Omaha, Neb.
Duquesne 71, BYU 67
Illinois 85, Morehead St. 69 Washington St. 66, Drake 61 Iowa St. 82, S. Dakota St. 65
SOUTH REGIONAL
First Round
Today’s games At FedExForum Memphis, Tenn.
Houston (30-4) vs. Longwood (21-13), 6:20 p.m.
Nebraska (23-10) vs. Texas A&M (20-14), 3:50 p.m.
At Barclays Center Brooklyn, N.Y.
Wisconsin (22-13) vs. James Madison (31-3), 6:40 p.m.
Duke (24-8) vs. Vermont (28-6), 4:10 p.m.
At Gainbridge Fieldhouse Indianapolis
Florida (24-11) vs. Colorado, 1:30 p.m. Marquette (25-9) vs. W. Kentucky (22-11), 11 a.m.
Thursday’s results At PPG Paints Arena Pittsburgh
NC State 80, Texas Tech 67 Oakland 80, Kentucky 76