He decided to play for USMNT instead of Mexico National Team and now karma got him

In recent years, both USMNT and Mexico National Team have been battling to convince the most talented young players with dual citizenship to play for their national team, as many of them were born in the United States but in a Mexican household.

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It’s a situation that will become more common as the years passes, given the volume of Mexicans living in the United States, and that both national teams will want to take advantage of, especially for the next World Cup, given that both countries, alongside Canada, will be the hosts.

For now, players like Julian Araujo, Efraín Álvarez and David Ochoa have decided to play for Mexico National Team after being part of the US Soccer academy teams. But El Tri has also lost talented players for the same reason.

Ricardo Pepi is one of the most notorious players that after playing for El Tri academy teams has inclined to play for the Stars and Stripes, where he even debuted with the senior team, thanks to Gregg Berhalter’s vision to have a team filled with young players.

Pepi is facing karma

But after the dreamed debut he had with the USMNT, where he scored one goal and assisted two times in the 4-1 victory over Honduras, Pepi has slowly disappeared from the front pages of soccer, as he hasn’t scored since October.

It’s undeniable that Pepi is a talented player, which is why Bundesliga side FC Augsburg decided to acquire him on a record-breaking transfer for both Augsburg and FC Dallas, Pepi’s former team, as they paid $20 million plus add-ons for his economic rights.

But even if he arrived at Augsburg as a star, the truth is that Pepi hasn’t been able to do much, as he’s played nine games since joining in January without any luck, as he’s started in just three of those games and hasn’t scored yet.

Was it a good decision to play for USMNT?

Pepi recently played for the first time in his career in Estadio Azteca, home of Club América, his favorite club growing up, when USMNT faced El Tri in the CONCACAF Qualifiers. During an interview, he said that he didn’t regret choosing USMNT over Mexico, and according to José Ramón Fernández, this has to do with the fact that along an economic compensation, the young players that decide to represent USA also receive a college scholarship.

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