FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. (AP) 鈥� Ricardo Pepi thought back to how much had changed in four years.
He hung up the phone when then-U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter called him in November 2022 with the decision to .
Flash forward to this May 22. Pepi was a passenger in a car his father, Daniel, was driving in Dallas when current coach popped in with the message sent to this year’s American 26.
鈥淚 showed it to him and he immediately started just like crying a little bit,” Pepi said. 鈥淏eing left off is obviously not nice, but I feel like (I’ve been) using that in a good way to be in this World Cup. I felt like it helped me grow. It matured me a little bit.鈥�
Known to his teammates as Rico, Pepi is among three forwards vying for playing time along with Folarin Balogun and Haji Wright ahead of the Americans’ World Cup opener against Paraguay on June 12. He has 13 goals in 36 international appearances entering the team’s final warmup match, against Germany on Saturday.
鈥淧epi is a killer,鈥� Pochettino said last week.
Still only 23, Pepi has had a career full of experiences. When Berhalter bypassed him for 2022, .
鈥淗e probably deserved to be on the last roster,鈥� U.S. star Christian Pulisic said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 continued to work really hard when he鈥檚 in camp. At his club level, he continues to keep a high level, scores goals, does all the things well, and that鈥檚 why his time is now and he absolutely deserves to be here.鈥�
Defender Antonee Robinson took the lead among teammates in consoling Pepi four years ago.
鈥淛ust called me to make sure that I was OK,鈥� Pepi said.
Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican parents, Pepi joined the academy of Dallas鈥� Major League Soccer team in 2016 after playing for its youth affiliate in El Paso. He made his MLS debut in 2019, the same year he appeared for the U.S. at the Under-17 World Cup with future national team members Gio Reyna and Joe Scally.
After just 2 1/2 years with Dallas that included the coronavirus-truncated 2020 season, Pepi He failed to score in 16 games and was loaned early in the 2022-23 season to Groningen. He couldn’t help avoid relegation and Pepi .
His 2024-25 season was cut short when he during a Champions League game against Liverpool that Jan. 29. He rebounded to score 19 goals over 34 matches in all competitions in his third season with PSV, including three in the Champions League, despite a that sidelined from between Jan. 10 and Feb. 21.
A possible move to the Premier League with Fulham didn’t get finalized in the last winter transfer window.
鈥淛ust looking at myself four years ago, obviously the player that I am now is way different, just better in those small spaces, just improved my game,鈥� he said. 鈥淏eing 18 years old going to Europe is obviously a big change. But I feel that I鈥檝e been able to adapt now, been able compete now with a big team.鈥�
in August 2021 after discussions with his family, then scored the go-ahead goal and added two assists in his international debut to spark a in the opening qualifier for the 2022 World Cup. He scored both goals in the the next month.
鈥淗e has this instinct, and it鈥檚 really hard to teach that to players,鈥� Berhalter said after those games five years ago. “He has an instinct to score.鈥�
Pepi made a perfectly weighted pass to Pulisic for the second goal in Sunday’s .
鈥淗e is a player that has the capacity to read where is the space to the ball, arrive (on) the ball and have the possibility to score and to create chances sometimes from nowhere,” Pochettino said.
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