Ricardo Pepi won’t be playing in Major League Soccer for much longer. The 18-year-old American phenom has requested a transfer from FC Dallas and is being eyed up by some of Europe’s biggest clubs. In an interview with 90 Minute Football, Pepi revealed that his dream is to play for Real Madrid. That begs the question; has an American played for Real Madrid?
Ricardo Pepi scored his team-leading 12th goal to help host FC Dallas record a 1-1 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday in Frisco, Texas.
Pepi returned to action after missing FC Dallas' last match while participating with the United States Men's National Team for World Cup qualifying. The 18-year-old homegrown player made quite the impact after his diving header off Justin Che's cross beat a diving JT Marcinkowski to forge a 1-1 tie.
Pepi has scored four goals in his last three MLS matches.
FC Dallas scored three goals in a four-minute first-half span, got braces from Jesús Ferreira and Ricardo Pepi and held on for 5-3 win over host Austin FC on Sunday in the most recent rendition of the Texas Derby.
FC Dallas (6-9-7, 25 points) emphatically snapped a three-match winless streak, dating back to a 2-0 home victory against Austin FC on Aug. 7. Austin (5-12-4, 19 points) has lost four of its past five matches and fell to FC Dallas for the second time in the month of August. The expansion team has just 20 goals this season in its 21 matches, the least in the league.
When Gregg Berhalter announced his 26-man roster for the upcoming 2022 World Cup qualifiers in September, there were a lot of people wondering where strikers like Matthew Hoppe and Daryl Dike were. A few were also wondering: Who is Ricardo Pepi, the teenager who was one of three strikers chosen to the squad.
Brek Shea shirtless, jeans barely hanging on to the footballer’s chiseled abs. A model in lingerie, eyes glassy like she just ate too much Thanksgiving dinner. And a baby donkey, half-asleep and half-aware of the brunette stroking its neck.
It is, perhaps, the greatest photo in MLS history. I’ll also accept worst photo of all time.
The above photo conjures so many questions.
On Wednesday, Major League Soccer announced its 28-player roster for the 2021 MLS All-Star Game. On Wednesday, Aug. 25, this group will play a highly anticipated match against the Liga MX All-Stars at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.
Some of the players have been here before (LAFC’s Carlos Vela, Orlando City’s Nani, Nashville’s Walker Zimmerman), but a number of players have been selected for the first time, including rising stars like San Jose’s Cade Cowell, Dallas’ Ricardo Pepi and New England’s Tajon Buchanan.
Ricardo Pepi became the youngest player in Major League Soccer history to score a hat-trick, leading FC Dallas to a 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday evening in Frisco, Texas.
Pepi, who is 18 years, 197 days of age, increased his season goal total to a team-high eight with his first career hat-trick. The El Paso, Texas, native is in his third season with the team.
FC Dallas announced the transfer of midfielder Tanner Tessmann to Serie A side Venezia FC on Thursday.
The 19-year-old signed a homegrown deal with Dallas ahead of the 2020 MLS campaign and has appeared in 26 games (15 starts), including seven games (six starts) this season. He has taken 20 shots and tallied one assist.
The year that was 2020 disrupted a lot of the financial models for Major League Soccer and resulted in a new Collective Bargaining Agreement ratified back in February, but the 26th season of MLS is now underway while looking largely similar to previous editions, particularly with regards to the MLS Designated Players list 2021.
Cade Cowell scored his first goal of the season and added an assist in his new role as a starting striker to lead the host San Jose Earthquakes to a 3-1 victory over FC Dallas on Saturday.
Oswaldo Alanís scored from the penalty spot and Cristian Espinoza added a second-half goal after missing a first-half penalty for the Earthquakes (1-1-0, 3 points), who won their first home opener since 2018.