Ricardo Pepi was disappointed to miss the U.S. national team World Cup roster, but insisted he’s at ease over his omission because he couldn’t have done much more to make the squad.
On the back of a disappointing first half-season at Augsburg, Pepi sought out a loan move to secure more minutes and scoring opportunities as he looked to lock down a World Cup place.
The 19-year-old got a loan to Dutch side Groningen and has delivered in the Eredivisie, scoring six goals in just nine games so far.
That led many observers to conclude Pepi would have a spot in Qatar secured, especially after Gregg Berhalter called him into September’s friendlies when the striker was not in strong scoring form.
But a trip to Qatar, where he would have been the youngest USMNT roster member, was not to be for Pepi. Speaking after scoring another goal for Groningen on Sunday in a 3-2 loss to Fortuna Sittard, Pepi said that while he is disappointed, he is proud of his recent exploits in the Netherlands.
“[It’s] disappointing because I felt like I gave myself the best opportunity to be on the World Cup roster,” Pepi said in an interview with OOG Radio.
“I felt like I had a chance but [it’s] also not disappointing at the same time because like I said, I did my thing. I went out there, I played many minutes, I scored my goals. So I’m really happy with that situation. At the end of the day, it’s a coach’s decision that I can’t control.”
Pepi said that after Berhalter told him he would not be on the roster, he tried not to dwell on the omission and immediately started to look ahead.
“After he told me that I wasn’t in the selection, I just had to listen to what he said. And I didn’t really ask any questions,” Pepi said. “I felt like once he told me I wanted to flip the page as soon as possible and just focus on the game now. I can’t keep thinking about why I didn’t make it or why I did.”
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