EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (AP) — U.S. international Ricardo Pepi will have surgery after breaking his right arm against PSV and is expected to miss two months.
The recovery schedule should give Pepi enough time to get back into shape and secure a spot on Team USA for the home World Cup.
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The 23-year-old Pepi fell and injured himself after scoring in the first half of the Dutch league’s 5-1 win over Excelsior on Saturday.
“It didn’t look good and in moments like this you’d rather look elsewhere,” PSV coach Peter Bosz said. “Ricciardo was out with a knee injury last January. It won’t last that long now, but unfortunately we lost him again. Pepi was in good form, had a great training camp and came all the way back. … All signs pointed to a strong second half of the season, so it’s very disappointing.”
Pepi played 34 times for the US team, scoring 13 goals and assisting 3 times.
The World Cup will also be co-hosted by Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. The U.S. team will face Paraguay, Australia and other teams in the group stages.
Surprisingly, Pepi was not named to the U.S. roster for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
