Tag: Ricardo Pepi

Ricardo Pepi scores first goal with Groningen, breaks 345-day scoreless run

Major relief for worried USMNT fans, and for Pepi himself

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

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Berhalter explains Pepi call-up ahead of in-form Pefok and Vazquez

The USMNT coach opted for experience and potential over players scoring at their clubs

Of the 26 names on September’s U.S. men’s national team roster, Ricardo Pepi’s was perhaps the most surprising.

The USMNT has a host of in-form striker options at the moment, but Gregg Berhalter opted to omit three of those in favor of a player who hasn’t scored a goal in nearly a year.

Brandon Vazquez has had a breakout campaign with FC Cincinnati, Jordan Pefok is off to a strong start in the Bundesliga with Union Berlin, and Haji Wright is still scoring with Antalyaspor in Turkey.

None of them made the cut.

Pepi has only just completed a loan move to Groningen in the Netherlands after a difficult start to life with Augsburg.

But Pepi’s track record with the USMNT, as well as his obvious potential, made the difference in Berhalter’s mind.

“Keep in mind this is a guy that scored three goals for us in World Cup qualifying and has had a tough time since then,” Berhalter told the media on Wednesday.

“We’re trying to get him confidence. We’re trying to get him into the group and see if he can make a push for the final roster — that’s TBD right now.

“You can see that he can be dominant in the Dutch league. And now it’s a question of if he actually is, and can he really take his game to the next level?

“Pepi has had some good history with us. He started in really important games. And we just weren’t willing to give all that up right now on Pepi, and we still think there’s a big upside with him. We still think he’s got really good potential.”

Berhalter addresses Pefok & Vazquez snubs

Berhalter didn’t go in depth into why Pefok missed out, saying that he was already familiar with what the striker brings to the table.

“We’re pretty confident we know Jordan’s profile, we know what he can do,” Berhalter said. “And we didn’t feel like we needed to see him in this camp to determine whether he can be on the [World Cup] roster or not.”

Berhalter did speak more on Vazquez, a player who has had a breakout campaign in MLS. In the USMNT coach’s eyes, however, his lack of experience with the national team is costly at this late stage.

“For us, it’s comparing him to what we have, comparing him to other guys and then the body of work both with his club and with us,” Berhalter said. “And with us, it’s very difficult for him: He doesn’t have a body of work.”

“I feel bad for Brandon,” the coach continued. “I talked to him and I told him it’s not the end and continue to do what he’s doing and keep himself in the conversation. That’s all I can do.”

(Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports)

Berhalter also laid out his vision for what he is looking for in a striker, which could be instructive in explaining some of his personnel decisions.

“We use them in a number of different ways,” Berhalter said. “One of them is to drop in and give us an extra man in midfield. One of the ways is to run behind the backline and then arrive in the penalty box, making good runs inside the penalty box.

“And then finally, starting our defensive pressure. We want to be a high-pressing team. We need forwards that understand the press, know how to use triggers to initiate the press and then actually execute the press well.”

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Ricardo Pepi admits he struggled to adapt to life in Germany

“A different country, a different culture and a different competition. It was honestly a lot at the same time”

Ricardo Pepi has opened up on his struggles to adapt to the Bundesliga and life in Germany after his move to Augsburg in January.

Augsburg broke its club record when it shelled out $20 million to sign Pepi from FC Dallas, but the U.S. national team striker endured a difficult spell in Germany.

Pepi failed to register a single goal or assist for Augsburg, and jumped at the chance to move on loan to Dutch side Groningen last month.

For Pepi, moving to a new country where he didn’t speak the language and adjusting to one of the world’s top leagues at age 18 was a lot to handle.

“It was quite a tough time. A different country, a different culture and a different competition. It was honestly a lot at the same time,” Pepi told Voetbal International.

Pepi faced an uphill battle for playing time with Augsburg this season, and believed his adaptation to the European game would be slowed if he couldn’t play regularly.

“My feeling was that I could only adapt to the European way of playing football by playing a lot somewhere,” the 19-year-old said. “That probably wasn’t going to happen in Germany yet.”

Pepi registered his first goal involvement in Europe on his Groningen debut, tallying an assist on Sunday. But he still appears to face long odds for a World Cup berth with the USMNT as his goal drought approaches a full year.

The striker has not given up on a berth on the World Cup roster, however, saying that making the squad for Qatar was another major reason behind his move to the Eredivisie.

“I really want to be there,” Pepi said of the World Cup. “The national team coach has said that it is important that I play a lot.”

Asked what his goal is for the upcoming months and Pepi was clear: “Play a lot and score for FC Groningen and go to the World Cup. That is the plan.”

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The Americans Abroad Five: Gio Reyna is back — now please stay healthy

Edin Terzić’s slow and steady approach to reintegrating the USMNT star is being vindicated

The Americans Abroad contingent was significantly reduced this week as English and Scottish leagues paused to mark the Queen’s death.

But there were still plenty of noteworthy performances, led by the return to form of a player who can be a difference-maker in Qatar if he’s fit: Gio Reyna.

There were also some significant moments for three players squarely on the bubble for the World Cup roster, as well as a potential new lease on life for one of the USMNT’s biggest stars.

Let’s get to the Five.

USMNT striker stock watch: Josh Sargent is back!

Remember when Josh Sargent was the USMNT’s top striker? Those days may be returning.

The U.S. men’s national team is set to play a pair of friendlies in Europe later this month as part of their final preparations for the 2022 World Cup.

First, the USMNT will face Japan in Germany on Sept. 23, then it will take on Saudi Arabia in Spain on Sept. 27. With just two matches remaining for the U.S. until the World Cup begins, there’s not a lot of time left for experimenting or introducing new players.

With that being the case, USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter has hinted that strikers who already have experience in the national team might have an advantage over guys who are still trying to break into the squad.

“What we’re trying to do [is] look at the profile who fits what we’re trying to do the best,” Berhalter said at a Nike event in New York last week, via Steven Goff of The Washington Post. “It may not be the best forward … it’s just what we think fits our team.”

So, who fits the team best?

The latest installment of our USMNT striker stock watch series is dropping now ahead of the release of the September friendlies roster, with players ranked 1-4 considered the most likely candidates for call-ups this month.

The Americans Abroad Five: Yunus Musah is a star

The midfielder’s breakthrough season looks to be upon us

Over the past couple years, the debate over the best and/or most important U.S. men’s national team player would typically center around Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams or Weston McKennie.

By the end of the World Cup, there may be a new answer — and there may not be any more need for a debate.

That’s how good Yunus Musah can be, and already is at age 19.

The Valencia midfielder put in a man-of-the-match display in a 5-1 win over Getafe on Sunday, the latest demonstration of his prodigious talent.

There were also several big moves for some high-profile Americans in Europe, and a couple injury concerns to boot in an eventful week.

Let’s get to the Five.

Ricardo Pepi to Groningen is a great move. The Augsburg transfer was not.

The Groningen loan may be what Pepi needs, but it also puts his future at Augsburg in doubt

It’s easy to see why Ricardo Pepi’s loan move from Augsburg to Groningen was so desirable for all parties. That is not a good thing.

Yes, he’s only 19. Yes, he’s got a contract with the Bundesliga outfit for four more years. But a club like Augsburg doesn’t spend $20 million on anyone and loan them out within a year unless there is something seriously amiss.

From club-record signing to shipped out nine months later, the Pepi story at Augsburg is off to the worst possible start.

Pepi had plenty of options on the table before he moved to Augsburg. Wolfsburg was his expected destination before he changed his mind at the last minute, while Chelsea and Wolves were also interested. Bayern Munich wanted to sign him as a developmental player, while Ajax was also sniffing around.

It’s easy to say now that Augsburg wasn’t the best place for Pepi to go, but there were plenty of obvious questions at the time of the move, too.

He was in a new league in a new country. He was joining a bad offensive team fighting for relegation midway through the season. And he was 18.

Instant success was always going to be a tall task. But with a $20m price tag, it was also going to be expected.

And make no mistake, Pepi was not brought in as a developmental prospect, he was brought to help Augsburg win right away. Pepi played 30 minutes in his first appearance, then started the next two matches.

He would only start two more games the rest of the way.

Season two starts slow

If Pepi’s first season was understandably tough, season two was expected to be better. After all, he’d have a full preseason under his belt and more experience in Germany overall.

Instead, after five total games and 103 minutes, Pepi is gone until next season.

The swiftness with which Augsburg decided Pepi is still not ready to help the team is alarming, and his stats in Germany so far make for some nightmarish viewing.In 16 games at Augsburg (five starts), he has a total of 1.1 expected goals. He is, of course, still searching for his first actual goal.

That will likely come in the Eredivisie, notoriously a free-scoring league. Groningen’s star forward Jorgen Strand Larsen is joining Celta Vigo, opening up a real need at striker.

If he couldn’t stay in Germany, Pepi could hardly have picked a better landing spot than Groningen. He should get minutes and chances to score, neither of which would have been a guarantee in Germany.

It may be too late for him to salvage a World Cup spot with so many USMNT strikers in form, but it certainly won’t be too late to turn around a career that, one year ago, looked to be heading for the very top.

Whether that will ever happen at Augsburg, though, remains to be seen.

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USMNT striker Ricardo Pepi moves to Groningen on loan

Pepi’s heading to the Eredivisie

With the No. 9 role for the U.S. men’s national team up for grabs, Ricardo Pepi is on the move.

The USMNT striker is leaving Augsburg for a season-long loan with FC Groningen in the Eredivisie. Groningen did not announce further details, but Fabrizio Romano has reported there is no purchase clause involved in the deal.

“(Groningen) is a big club here in the Netherlands,” Pepi told the club’s site. “They’ve developed some great players: Luis Suarez, Virgil van Dijk, Arjen Robben. These are world-class players. I know this is a great club for me, and it’s gonna be a good season.”

“Ricardo is a great talent, who has an international reputation,” said Groningen technical director Mark-Jan Fledderus. “At the beginning of this month his name was mentioned to us and we have already had a conversation with him. Shortly afterwards his situation at Augsburg changed and his arrival seemed no longer an option for us. Until yesterday. We acted very quickly on this and last night Ricardo drove to Groningen to complete his transfer today.”

The move comes at a critical time for Pepi’s USMNT hopes. The competition for potential strikers on Gregg Berhalter’s roster for the World Cup is suddenly fierce, while Pepi’s candidacy has fallen off. Since making the jump from FC Dallas to Augsburg, Pepi hasn’t scored a goal at club level, and his last goal with the national team came back in October of last year.

Even with that drought and the addition of Bosnian striker Ermedin Demirovic as a new starter, Pepi had still appeared in every Augsburg match this season. However, he had clearly become a second-choice option for head coach Enrico Maassen, even with Augsburg generally playing with two strikers. So far this year, Pepi has 107 minutes spread across five appearances in all competitions, and only one start.

In that regard, a move to Groningen and the notoriously free-scoring Eredivisie makes sense. For one thing, Groningen needs the help: they’ve scored five goals in four games this season. It’s also a league where Americans have scored plenty of goals, going back to the days of Michael Bradley at Heerenveen and Jozy Altidore at AZ.

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USMNT striker stock watch: Pefok and Vazquez make strong cases

Which strikers will the USMNT take to the World Cup? Jordan Pefok and Brandon Vazquez are making strong cases

As the 2022 World Cup continues to draw closer, fans of the U.S. men’s national soccer team seem to have a pretty good guesstimate of a first-choice roster with one position in particular standing out as a question mark: striker.

Who will start at the No. 9 spot for the USMNT in Qatar this summer, and who will back him up? The position appears to be totally up for grabs, so we’ve been monitoring the stock of the notable U.S.-eligible striker candidates.

Stateside, the MLS playoff race is heating up, and in Europe, the 2022-23 season has kicked off, providing a good opportunity for a stock watch update.

Let’s get to the list!

USMNT striker stock watch: Dike’s back, Ebobisse’s heating up

Who will start at No. 9 for the USMNT at the World Cup? Right now, Jesús Ferreira leads the striker stock watch power rankings.

If everyone’s healthy, U.S. men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter probably has a pretty good idea of his preferred starters for the World Cup this fall – at most positions, anyway.

Most spots in the XI have obvious first-choice options, but striker remains a big question mark for the USMNT, at least in the eyes of fans and pundits.

The top candidates for the No. 9 role can make Berhalter’s job easier by performing for their club teams and creating some separation in the competition leading up to November.

We’re going to be periodically checking in on the top striker candidates leading up to the World Cup with our new striker stock watch series. With MLS teams hitting midseason and European clubs beginning preseason, now’s a good time to start.

Let’s get to the list!