Haji Wright got Christian Pulisic ‘so mad’ with FIFA wins & victory song – with USMNT star ignoring NBA and NFL advice to chase soccer dream alongside Weston McKennie & Tyler Adams

Wright, who has just posted a career-best return of 19 goals for Coventry in the 2023-24 campaign, saw his potential spotted early and was drafted into youth camps alongside the likes of fellow hot prospects Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and Luca de la Torre.

The 26-year-old forward has told the Offside with Taylor Twellman podcast of that experience: “With Christian, Weston and Tyler, for our residency I just remember being around them all day, every day. Christian was one of my dorm mates, so I used to play everyday against Christian at FIFA. I’m better than him at FIFA, so when I would beat him I used to play this song and he used to get so mad! Luca, I actually played against him before academy days, so when we were like 10/11. I remember playing him for the first time and thinking he was the best thing since sliced bread.”

Wright may never have trodden that path had he listened to the advice of certain family members, with the powerful frontman saying of sporting passions in his household: “Depending on the time of year, it was either the Super Bowl or the NBA Finals – basketball and football, that was it. Around like my 14th or 15th birthday, I started getting a growth spurt and I was around like 6’1’’ or 6’2’’ that year. And I remember my uncles and my aunts saying: ‘Why aren’t you playing basketball, what are you wasting your talent for?’ [After playing at the 2022 World Cup] all of a sudden they’re like: ‘Oh my gosh, the best soccer player in the world!’ I said: ‘Ahh, remember when I was a kid?’”

Having impressed in the Championship and during a run to the FA Cup semi-finals in the season just gone, Wright has been included in the USMNT squad for a Copa America tournament on home soil. He is heading into that event with four senior international goals recorded through 10 appearances.