DORTMUND, Germany — Werder Bremen surprised title contenders Borussia Dortmund on Saturday in front of 81,365 visitors at the Signal Iduna Park thanks, in part, to U.S. men’s national team striker Josh Sargent.
Although Werder Bremen had taken the lead in the seventh minute thanks to a strike by Milot Rashica, Dortmund was up after 45 minutes. Mario Götze had equalized the lead in the 11th minute and Marco Reus scored the go-ahead in the 40th minute.
Bremen, however, struck back in the 55th minute, when Marco Friedl scored from a close-range header. Ahead of the goal, Josh Sargent managed to flick the ball to the far post were Friedl was ready to head the ball home.
“It was a good point for us,” Sargent said after the game. “It was a set-piece, and I kinda acted like I was going to go front post, but then I went back post and Marco was there to score.”
“It was no mistake that Sargent was there to make this play happen,” Werder Bremen head coach Florian Kohfeldt said after the game. “His movement ahead of the second goal was fantastic.
“Overall, he was very good. Perhaps in the first half he was trying to do too much—you had the feeling he was almost surprised by how much ground he covered. But that is normal for a young player.”
A young player who is getting plenty of playing time at Werder. With several players out due to injury, the striker is a lock in Werder’s starting XI at the moment.
“Yeah, I mean it is a big step up from playing the U17s or U20s,” Sargent said. “Every game I am just trying to improve and get used to the style of play and the pace on the field.”
Playing in the Bundesliga in front of tens of thousands of fans regularly is without a doubt a big step up for the 19-year-old striker.
“He is adapting to the tempo and Josh is a player, who definitely has limitless potential and I am not surprised by his performance today,” Kohfeldt said.
“Fundamentally, I believe that his development is just at the beginning. You notice that he doesn’t always make the right decisions, especially when it comes to playing together with his teammates. Sometimes he takes too much risk, sometimes to little, but that is a matter of experience.”
Overall, Kohfeldt does not doubt Sargent is a special talent.
“When you go just by his raw talent, he brings everything to the table to become a top Bundesliga striker,” Kohfeldt said. “But I don’t want to put to much pressure on him. He will get the playing time because in Niclas Füllkrug we lost our most important striker to an injury.”
Sargent wants the playing time to help prepare him for when the United States faces Canada in the Concacaf Nations League in October.
“Hopefully, I get invited in the first place,” Sargent said with a laugh. “If I do get the chance to go, it would be very cool. The Nations League is new for us, and it will be a big game in Canada against Canada.
“I am still young, and these are my first steps,” Sargent said. “All I am trying to do is learn and improve every game.”