Tag: Groningen

Roda JC fans storm field to celebrate promotion despite not being promoted

Everyone gets a little too excited from time to time, even stadium announcers

Roda JC fans might need to work on timing their celebrations.

Supporters streamed onto the pitch at Parkstad Limburg Stadion after two second-half goals gave Roda a 2-0 win over Cambuur in the Dutch second division on Friday.

Fans twirled yellow scarves, ran in jubilation, and generally delighted in Roda’s climb out of the Eerste Divisie and into the top flight.

Just one problem: Roda had not clinched promotion yet.

De Koempels had hit full time, but elsewhere in Eerste Divisie play, Groningen trailed its away match against Telstar. A Groningen loss would do the job for Roda, and at full time it seemed like that was going to happen.

However, Thom van Bergen’s 95th-minute equalizer gave life to Groningen’s hopes of bouncing right back into the Eredivisie. To add to the drama, Telstar would go on to put the ball in the back of the net afterwards, only for the goal to be chalked off.

In an interview with Voetbal International, stadium announcer Wim Frijns put his hand up, saying that he had conveyed some incorrect information to fans at what turned out to be an awkward moment.

“It started with supporters entering the field,” explained Frijns, who said he announced that Telstar and Groningen were still playing.

Still, per Frijns everyone was ready to party. Fans clustered in one corner, ready to get out on the field, while players returned from the locker room to join the revelry.

“Someone said to me, ‘Telstar has scored a goal,'” said Frijns. “People were crying next to me, players came out, everyone was celebrating. So I thought: it must be so.”

Frijns got on the mic and announced the Telstar goal. Cue the scenes:

“A little later I heard that the goal had been disallowed,” admitted Frijns.

Much to the chagrin of Roda fans, the results mean that there’s still work to do. Fortunately, this one isn’t too complicated, and all parties should have no trouble sorting out whether to party or not at full time.

You see, Roda is at Groningen on May 10, and the situation is very simple. Roda will be promoted — for real this time — with a win or a draw. A positive result could also see Roda win the league outright, as the club trails Willem II by a single point.

However, should Groningen win, it’ll be Groningen fans wilding out instead. A win would get Groningen level with Roda on points, and since the former holds a two-goal edge on goal difference (the first tiebreaker in the Eerste Divisie), that would seal promotion for the hosts.

It’s just important for all parties to be absolutely sure the game is really, actually over before getting the champagne out.

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Ricardo Pepi scores again, Groningen loses again

Imagine Groningen without Pepi

The contrast between Ricardo Pepi and Groningen in the Eredivisie couldn’t be more stark.

Pepi scored his seventh goal in his last 10 matches between club play and the U.S. men’s national team. The goal is his 11th in the league this season, and when you add in his three assists, he’s made a direct contribution to 50% of Groningen’s 28 goals.

It’s just that Groningen is in freefall as a club, squandering Pepi’s goal as Michiel Kramer’s 86th minute penalty gave RKC Waalwijk a 2-1 win on Saturday.

The defeat marked Groningen’s sixth straight Eredivisie loss, and the club is on a horrid 1W-3D-14L run. With just five games left to play and eight points between them and a promotion-relegation playoff spot, relegation seems certain.

Pepi, who is on a season-long loan, has been doing whatever he can to stave off the inevitable. His productivity on an otherwise doomed team, combined with his eagerness to avoid returning to Augsburg, should make him a hot commodity in this summer’s transfer market.

On Saturday, Pepi maintained his good form with another goal. After initially keeping a play alive by ensuring the ball didn’t run out of play, Pepi passed backwards as Groningen — who had fallen behind just seconds earlier — tried to find an opening in the massed RKC defense.

With the home side standing off, Groningen had time to get men forward, and left back Nordin Musampa pushed up into a more dangerous spot. With time and space, he curled a pinpoint cross in for Pepi, who had ghosted away from his markers to get wide open at the back post.

Watch Pepi strike again

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Augsburg willing to listen to offers for USMNT forward Pepi

Pepi has made clear that he wants to leave the German club as soon as possible

Augsburg sporting director Stefan Reuter has said the club is willing to consider “concrete and adequate offers” for unsettled forward Ricardo Pepi.

Pepi and his agent Jaime Garcia recently gave an explosive interview to Voetbal International, airing their grievances with Augsburg and underlining their desire to leave the Bundesliga club.

Augsburg signed the U.S. national team striker for a club-record fee of $20 million in January 2022, but Pepi struggled to find his feet in a half season with the club.

Garcia slammed Augsburg for its treatment of Pepi before it sent the forward on loan to FC Groningen in the Netherlands early this season.

“We appreciate the investment the club has made, but once he came in, it seemed they didn’t know how to handle such an investment,” Pepi’s agent said.

“The manager didn’t speak to him, the director wanted him so badly that he twice did not show up for an appointment with Ricardo that he had scheduled himself. The coach talks about him at a press conference, but does not respond to a message Ricardo sent him for four days. Is that respectful?”

Augsburg responds

Though Pepi has a contract with Augsburg through 2026, Reuter said the club is willing to grant his wish — but only if the right offer arrives.

“Ricardo has a long-term contract with us. With his qualities, he fits in very well with our style of play. The coach also thinks highly of him. Of course I understand what his agent has said,” Reuter told Sky Germany.

“But the facts are clear and there have been no inquiries, let alone offers, for him so far. So a sale is not an issue for us at the moment.

“As always, we would consider concrete and adequate offers. But we will discuss that directly with him and the agent, not through the public.”

Pepi, who has 10 Eredivisie goals this season, has been linked with a move to Dutch powers PSV and Feyenoord, as well as to the Premier League.

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Ricardo Pepi: I don’t want to go back to Augsburg

The USMNT striker is ready to play hardball with his parent club

Ricardo Pepi appears ready to play hardball.

The striker has told his parent club Augsburg that he wants out, despite the fact he has a contract with the Bundesliga side through 2026.

Pepi has put together a standout individual campaign on loan with FC Groningen, scoring 10 league goals for a club that is in serious danger of being relegated from the Eredivisie.

That output stands in stark contrast to his production at Augsburg, which shelled out a club-record fee of $20 million in January 2022 to sign the U.S. international from FC Dallas.

Pepi struggled to adapt after making the move from MLS, and is still looking for his first Augsburg goal after 15 Bundesliga appearances.

With transfer interest growing, Pepi told VI that he is already looking for a new challenge less than 18 months after joining Augsburg.

“For me it is clear: I do not want to go back to Augsburg,” Pepi said. “I have already let the club know that. I have been promised things that have not been fulfilled. Then it is simple: You have to look for another club.”

Pepi’s comments came just one day after Augsburg manager Enrico Maassen said he was pleased with how the 20-year-old’s loan was going, adding that he’s looking forward to having Pepi back next season.

Augsburg sporting director Stefan Reuter was even more explicit in an interview with Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung last week, saying: “We are planning firmly with [Pepi] and have no intention of giving him away. Enrico Maassen rates him very highly.”

Pepi has been recently been linked with a move to Dutch powers Feyenoord and PSV, along with other clubs in Europe.

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Augsburg coach: Pepi’s loan has worked out perfectly

Pepi has 10 league goals with Groningen this season

Augsburg head coach Enrico Maassen said the club’s decision to send Ricardo Pepi on loan to Groningen has worked out perfectly.

Pepi became Augsburg’s club-record signing when he joined in January 2022 for a fee of $20 million, but he failed to score a goal across 15 Bundesliga appearances for the club.

Just a few games into the 2022-23 campaign, Augsburg sent Pepi on a season-long loan to the Eredivisie. The American striker has responded with a standout season for relegation-battling Groningen, scoring 10 league goals in 22 games.

Pepi has been tipped to leave Augsburg on a permanent basis this summer, but while praising the move to send the USMNT forward on loan, Maassen also indicated he was looking forward to having him back at the club.

“The calculation worked out perfectly,” Maassen said. “That was the idea of giving him more playing time in a league that is perhaps not as physically demanding as the Bundesliga, but it still technically good.”

Maassen added: “We are very pleased that his development is going so positively, that he scores a lot of goals and is also in the national team. We look forward to him coming back soon.”

Augsburg sporting director Stefan Reuter echoed Maassen’s comments last week, telling Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung: “We are planning firmly with [Pepi] and have no intention of giving him away. Enrico Maassen rates him very highly.”

Pepi starred for the USMNT in the recent international window, scoring three goals over two wins against Grenada and El Salvador.

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Pepi makes Eredivisie team of the month for still-struggling Groningen

If Groningen avoids relegation, Pepi will be an enormous factor

Whatever happens to Groningen this season, no one can say that Ricardo Pepi let them down.

The U.S. men’s national team striker made the Eredivisie team of the month for February, joining a team almost entirely comprised of players from the league’s three historical giants.

Pepi has been directly involved in nearly half of Groningen’s goals this season, and scored twice in their four February matches. Those games didn’t exactly go well for Groningen — they went 1W-2D-1L in February, and remain in the relegation zone — but that win did at least break an 11-game run without a victory.

In fact, by Eredivisie relegation scrap standards, Groningen’s five points this past month is actually pretty good. Collectively, the league’s bottom six teams won just three games in the month, and Groningen’s 3-0 win over Excelsior (who sit in 15th place, making them the final safe team in the table) on Saturday got them within three points of surviving this season.

Pepi wasn’t the lone CONCACAF representative on the list, as Mexico defender Edson Álvarez (Ajax) ended up on the team as well. The Eredivisie team of the month is determined by some blend of fan voting and data from Stats Perform that is probably better not known.

The USMNT striker may have tilted the vote in his favor with a little recency bias, as he saved his standout performance for that Excelsior victory.

Pepi scored a clinical goal, took five shots (more than Excelsior’s entire team managed on the day), and completed four of five attempted dribbles as Groningen got a win they probably couldn’t do without.

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Pepi says he did his part to make USMNT World Cup roster: ‘I scored my goals’

The 19-year-old felt he couldn’t have done much more to secure a roster spot

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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Ricardo Pepi can’t stop scoring for Groningen

That’s five goals in six games for Pepi

Ricardo Pepi is loving life in the Netherlands.

The U.S. men’s national team striker scored a 90th minute goal as Groningen strolled to a 3-0 win over FC Dordrecht in the first round of the KNVB Cup.

The tap-in marked his fifth goal in six games since moving to Groningen on loan from Augsburg. Pepi’s instant success has made him an every-game starter for head coach Frank Wormuth, and he played the full 90 minutes as Groningen comfortably beat their second-division opponents.

While scoring the goal required little more than side-footing into an empty net from the doorstep, Pepi’s work rate was the key to the chance ever happening. With Dordrecht in possession and looking to spark any kind of hope for a miraculous comeback, Pepi dipped back into the midfield to catch Toine van Huizen by surprise.

Pepi pounced to knock the ball back to Ragnar Oratmangoen, and then took off to join the counter-attack. Oratmangoen fed Florian Krüger on the right, and Groningen quickly had two players in against Dordrecht goalkeeper Trevor Doornbusch. Krüger drew Doornbusch out before passing to Pepi, who effectively walked the ball over the line to end the game as a contest.

The difficulty for Pepi and Groningen will go up a level or two this weekend, as they face a difficult home match against second-place PSV on Sunday.

Provided he stays healthy, Pepi’s place on the USMNT roster for the World Cup seems secure. However, for Gregg Berhalter, the fact that Pepi keeps scoring is a significant boost, particularly coming in the same week that Jordan Pefok and Josh Sargent both had to leave matches early due to minor knocks.

Watch Pepi stay hot for Groningen

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Ricardo Pepi scores brace, continuing red-hot Eredivisie start

The striker has four goals in four games with Groningen thus far

Ricardo Pepi continues to enjoy life in the Netherlands.

The U.S. men’s national team striker scored two goals for Groningen on Friday, as his side fell 3-2 to RKC Waalwijk in an Eredivisie match.

Pepi has played just four games for Groningen since joining on loan from Augsburg but he’s now scored four goals and added an assist in those matches.

It’s a notable turnaround for the 19-year-old, who failed to score or assist a goal for Augsburg after a $20 million move from FC Dallas in January.

Pepi scored from the penalty spot in the first half of Friday’s game, before adding another in the second half after some neat combination play with Florian Krüger.

Per Opta, Pepi has now become the first player this century to be directly involved in five goals in his first four Eredivisie matches with Groningen.

Pepi’s scoring blitz, of course, comes at a most opportune time for his World Cup chances. Having been handed a surprise recall for last month’s USMNT friendlies, the striker is doing everything he can at the club level to keep himself right in the mix for a World Cup roster spot.

With just one month until Gregg Berhalter names his 26-man squad, more night’s like Friday could see Pepi find his way onto the plane for Qatar.

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Ricardo Pepi shakes off USMNT’s struggles, scores again for Groningen

Pepi bounced back from a rough USMNT window in the best way

Ricardo Pepi is wasting no time in bouncing back from an unpleasant international break.

The U.S. men’s national team struggled in the September FIFA window, with Pepi among the players who didn’t come away from friendlies against Japan and Saudi Arabia looking their best.

However, a key aspect for a good striker is to shake it off and be ready for the next one, and that’s just what Pepi did Saturday, scoring for Groningen in his first game back as they squared off with AZ.

In many ways, the goal was incredibly simple. Groningen, trailing 2-0 at the time, took a goal kick short. With AZ pressing high, defender Neraysho Kasanwirjo ended up going long to find an outlet.

From there, the goal was all Pepi. His slashing run across the path of Maxim Dekker cut the defender (who eventually stumbled and fell down) off. Still, AZ’s Sam Beukema had the better angle to chase the bouncing ball down, getting in front of Pepi as the ball bounced into the box.

Beukema couldn’t put the brakes on fast enough, though, and that gave Pepi a chance to muscle his way within reach of the ball. He took a touch, spinning away from Beukema as both fell to the ground, but still had the composure to swing around and fire a shot off before goalkeeper Hobie Verhulst could close the angle down.

It’s still early days for Pepi with Groningen, but the move is looking like exactly what he needed. In three appearances since moving there on loan from Augsburg, the USMNT No. 9 has been involved with a goal in every game. He got an assist in his debut, and scored in Groningen’s next match, ending a nearly year-long slump in front of goal.

Watch Pepi get on the scoresheet for Groningen

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