‘Chasing success’
Haji Wright, 19, looks to follow Christian Pulisic as the next U.S. soccer phenom,
This is a funny time of year for the European sports tabloids. Starved of their steady diet of soccer action to write and gossip about, many fill part of their pages with gleaming photos of the game’s superstars on their summer vacations, glitzy photos of yachts and jet skis taken everywhere from Dubai to the Greek Islands and even Los Angeles.
Haji Wright, a young American forward trying to make his name in those esteemed circles, was in L.A. this past week, too, but there was nothing glamorous about his Tuesday morning experience.
At a private gym tucked between Santa Monica Freeway and a Meals on Wheels base, Wright and his younger brother Hanif were sprinting on a treadmill’s maximum incline at its top speed — 15% gradient at 12.4 mph — while performance coach Nicky Holender yelled encouragement.
“Chasing,” Wright managed to gasp out when asked about what motivated him to be here, just 10 days after returning to California from Schalke, his German Bundesliga club team. After all, this is the offseason in Europe.
“Chasing success,” Wright added, before Holender swiftly moved the circuit to a series of excruciating plyometrics.
Wright, 19, is chasing a lot of things.
A rising star with Schalke, he is chasing a permanent place in the first team of one of Germany’s most esteemed clubs, a position that would pitch him up against some of Europe’s finest players on a weekly basis.
Attain that, and a call-up to the U.S. men’s national team would surely not be far away, given that the USA has precious few players operating at such a high level in Europe’s biggest leagues.
He is chasing lost time after age-related visa restrictions meant he could only train and not play competitively after signing with Schalke, where he moved just days after his 18th birthday.
And in that sense, he is also chasing one of his best pals — and perhaps already the USA’s best player — Christian Pulisic, 18.
“Christian is a great soccer player but an even better friend,” Wright said after his workout, which he followed with a vegan burger and sweet potato at a health food restaurant. “It is great to see someone else who has made it. It definitely shows it is possible to get from where I am at to where he is at.”
Pulisic has quickly become the youthful face of the U.S. team. The speedy attacking midfielder was spotted by Dortmund during an under-17 tournament in Turkey, where the club had gone to scout Wright.
With Pulisic eligible for a Croatian passport, he was able to play for Dortmund right away and grabbed his opportunity impressively.
Wright has seen much of it unfold at close quarters. Dortmund and Schalke are fierce local rivals, and the pair live 30 minutes from each other. They spend much of their downtime playing FIFA video games, pingpong and pool and razzing each other about sports.
Wright, who was in the Los Angeles Galaxy youth system for three years from age 14 before trying his hand overseas, has had to bide his time. He comes across as genuine and earnest and looks forward to having Hanif, 18, who also shows great promise, join him at Schalke next season.
Holender, a former soccer pro who works with high-level players such as former Champions League winner Salomon Kalou as well as Hollywood celebrities such as chef Gordon Ramsay, wants to see Wright add an edge to his game.
“We are working on his aggression because he has so many physical tools, but he needs to learn to be a bit nasty,” Holender said. “If he gets that mean streak, which he has got somewhere deep down, he can be fantastic.
“When I look at his work ethic, combined with where he is at al- ready, there is a lot to be excited about. And the fact that he’s here, working out during his break when he could be doing whatever he likes, that bodes well.”
European soccer is a tough business, and every slight advantage counts. Holender encourages Wright to look inside himself for extra drive, pushing him to the limit during gym sessions in the morning and fine-tuning soccerspecific drills at UCLA in the afternoon.
Even though he is back at home in California, Wright is left with little time for fun, but he knows the end goal would be worth the sacrifice. “I don’t want to put a ceiling on what I can achieve,” he said. “I dream of big things, like winning a World Cup or a Champions League medal.
“More than anything, I just want to keep getting better in every part of my game, make the most of this opportunity I have.”
“I don’t want to put a ceiling on what I can achieve.” Forward Haji Wright, a 19-year-old American soccer player who is in the German team Schalke organization