It was Oct. 7, 2021, when Ricardo Pepi’s place in the U.S. men’s national team’s starting lineup looked to be fortified for the foreseeable future. Two goals against Jamaica in Austin had cemented three more World Cup qualifying points, and the teenage sensation was on his way to joining the likes of Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams, Gio Reyna, Weston McKennie and the rest of the young, entrenched members of the squad. A $20 million January transfer to Augsburg did little to dispute that notion.
It has now been exactly six months since those goals vs. the Reggae Boyz, and the second of them was the most recent one he has scored for club or country over a span of 21 appearances and 1,113 minutes. Suffice it to say, his place in the U.S. XI—let alone a spot on the U.S. roster—for the Nov. 21 World Cup group opener against either Wales, Scotland or Ukraine is now looking tenuous at best.
Pepi was dropped back to the bench Wednesday for Augsburg vs. Mainz before coming on for the final 19 minutes to see out three more important points for the club in its fight for Bundesliga survival. With six games to play, Augsburg is six points clear of the drop zone. It still has matches vs. Bayern Munich (this Saturday) and RB Leipzig to go, but it also has games against the two clubs currently occupying the automatic relegation places and at least has a margin for error. From a long-term outlook, securing top-flight fußball for next season matters. But the short-term ramifications are becoming more and more pressing considering the ticking clock, the limited amount of U.S. prep time for Qatar and the ongoing lack of productivity. Strikers can do a lot of things for a team that don’t involve putting the ball in the back of the net, but ultimately that is priority No. 1. And it’s not like the U.S. is flush with options achieving that at the moment.
