The long wait is finally over for Ricardo Pepi.
345 days after his last goal, the U.S. men’s national team was on the scoresheet Saturday as FC Groningen fell 2-1 at Sparta Rotterdam.
Three days after USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter showed his faith in the young striker by picking him over several more prolific options, Pepi put Groningen ahead in the 61st minute, capping off a well-worked move with a header to give his new club a temporary lead. Sparta would go on to win thanks to late goals from Sven Mijnans and Vito van Crooij.
Just after the hour mark in a scoreless game, Groningen tried to attack Sparta’s left side, but found no easy inroads. Checking for different options, Tomáš Suslov dropped off the front line before an ambitious switch of play to the opposite touchline, picking out Isak Dybvik Määttä.
As Dybvik Määttä sized up a cross, Pepi’s run came possibly too early, with the 19-year-old arriving at the near post before the cross was struck. However, with his man giving him a yard, Pepi rose up unchallenged as Dybvik Määttä’s service arrived, nodding the ball down past goalkeeper Youri Schoonderwaldt.
Pepi’s last goal in a competitive game anywhere came back on October 7, 2021, when he scored a brace against Jamaica for the USMNT in World Cup qualifying. Pepi went scoreless in the next two qualifiers in that window, his final four MLS appearances, and then the final three qualifiers of the year.
Pepi then made his big move to Augsburg, but things didn’t pan out. He went scoreless in 11 appearances in the Bundesliga, as well as four more USMNT qualifiers and a January friendly. Summer came and went, and the break didn’t end Pepi’s torment in front of goal. He appeared in four more Bundesliga matches, as well as a blowout win in the DFB Pokal, but still had no goals.
Finally, Augsburg reached a deal to send him on loan to Groningen, and things started to look up immediately. Pepi got an assist in his first appearance in the Netherlands, helping his new club to a 1-0 win, and ended his scoreless drought six days later.
For the USMNT, seeing Pepi find the back of the net before their upcoming September friendlies has to be considered a huge positive. Berhalter’s faith in Pepi is clear, but it would still be a very difficult job to lift a striker’s confidence after that many scoreless months going into the World Cup. Getting that weight off his shoulders should do Pepi a world of good.
Watch Pepi break his scoreless run with his first Groningen goal
— Gols na Holanda (@GolsnaHolanda) September 17, 2022
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