Within the aftermath of the match-winning Champions League aim he scored towards title favorites Liverpool on Wednesday, Ricardo Pepi appeared unstoppable.
It was the U.S. males’s nationwide group ahead’s 18th strike this season and his second on the earth’s most prestigious membership competitors, and the clearest proof but that the 21-year-old Texan has earned the correct to be the undisputed beginning ahead for each the USMNT and Dutch champs PSV Eindhoven.
These plans should wait. Pepi suffered a knee harm within the second half of PSV’s 3-2 victory over the Reds that might sideline him for 2 months, a supply with information of the state of affairs confirmed to FOX Sports activities on Thursday following a number of media reviews within the Netherlands.
The severity of the ailment remains to be being assessed, the supply added. But when the preliminary timeline is correct, it could rule Pepi out of the U.S.’s Concacaf Nations League semifinal towards Panama on March 20 and a possible ultimate towards historic rival Mexico in Los Angeles three days later. That may be a big loss for Mauricio Pochettino’s squad, which can also be anticipated to be with out fellow striker Folarin Balogun till April.
Balogun, the USMNT’s first alternative middle ahead below earlier USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter, has but to look below Pochettino after present process shoulder surgical procedure final fall. Pepi grabbed the function with aplomb in Balogun’s absence, scoring in Pochettino’s debut win in October and in each legs of November’s Nations League quarterfinal win over Jamaica.
England-based pair Josh Sargent and Haji Wright are in all probability the main candidates to exchange Pepi in March, although each lately returned from their very own long-term harm layoffs. MLS strikers Patrick Agyemang and Brandon Vazquez are among the many different choices for Pochettino.
At PSV, Pepi has largely been used as an alternative since becoming a member of the 25-time Dutch champs at the start of 2023-24, with former Barcelona ahead and Netherlands worldwide Luuk de Jong entrenched as supervisor Peter Bosz’ first alternative. But regardless of the restricted enjoying time, Pepi has outscored De Jong this season and is second within the Eredivisie’s Golden Boot race, with 11 objectives in simply 681 minutes performed.
Bosz rewarded that constant manufacturing on Wednesday by giving Pepi his first Champions League begin of the season. He was rewarded handsomely. Along with his game-winning aim simply earlier than halftime, Pepi additionally arrange the hosts’ opener towards Liverpool with a intelligent help.
Pepi may also miss PSV’s two-leg Champions League playoff sequence subsequent month towards both Eredivisie rivals Feyenoord or Italian titans Juventus. He may return for the match quarterfinals in April if PSV will get that far with out him. The membership, which gained its solely European title in 1988, was eradicated within the spherical of 16 final yr.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer author for FOX Sports activities who has lined the United States males’s and girls’s nationwide groups at FIFA World Cups on 5 continents. Comply with him at @ByDougMcIntyre.
Ricardo Pepi
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