Ricardo Pepi sat down with his family to discuss an important decision: to represent the United States or Mexico.
“I put everything on the table for them,” he recalled Tuesday. “I talked about what it would be like to go out and face Mexico. We talked about how special it would be and how motivating it would be for me.”
In August, Pepi turned to the United States, where he grew up, and not to El Tri, the national team of his parents. The 18-year-old forward emerged as one of soccer’s great promises, scoring three goals in his first two international games.
Pepi will face Mexico for the first time in the World Cup qualifiers when the two bitter CONCACAF rivals meet on Friday in Cincinnati at the new TQL Stadium.
The 25 players called up by the United States trained Tuesday at the Mercy Health Training Center in Milford, Ohio.
At her international baptism, Pepi scored the goal that gave the United States the lead to an away win against Honduras. He scored a double in last month’s home win against Jamaica.
He made his 16-year-old debut with North Texas in March 2019 and played his first MLS game in June. Pepi scored 13 goals in 31 games this season, to be the top scorer for Dallas FC and 12th in the US league.
“He has taken advantage of all the opportunities very well,” acknowledged midfielder Kellyn Acosta. “He is a fair-minded boy despite everything that happens around him. He has done everything well to maintain confidence and be a stealthy killer on the court. “
His goals give force to speculation about a possible transfer, sounding in the orbit of several of the renowned clubs in Europe. He has asked the US coach for advice, as well as teammates Gregg Berhalter, Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie.
“I keep my mind fixed on what follows and not focus on the future,” he stressed.
Pepi is the only born forward, at the position of nine, to face Mexico and then Jamaica next Tuesday. Berhalter did not cite Josh Sargent, Jordan Pefok, Daryl Dike and Matthew Hope.
“We want dynamism in the area,” Berhalter said. “We see Ricardo playing a lot of minutes in both games.”
Pepi remembers watching the games between Mexico and the United States with her family when she was 10 or 11 years old. He hopes that at least 10 members of his family and friends are close, and he will keep his ties to both countries in mind when the national anthems are played.
“They’re going to give me the creeps,” he said.
It’s the same situation that David Ochoa, Real Salt Lake goalkeeper, and Julián Araujo, LA Galaxy full back, experienced. Both played for the United States national team before switching to represent Mexico.
“You have to go your own way and make the decision by listening to your heart,” Pepi said. “It seemed very important to me to be able to have a connection with the national team that you represent. It was just following what the heart dictates ”.
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