By Favian Renkel
The United States squeezed out a 4-1 one win vs Honduras. We can all take a relaxing deep breath now, including Gregg Berhalter. This was the most nail biting 4-1 victory I have ever seen! The pressure that mounted on Berhalters shoulder when everything wasn’t working in the first half, the correct adjustments were made. Hopefully this is a wake up call for everyone. The team played extremely well in the second half and tied up the game right away coming out of the half. Then goals started pouring in, the first goal went in off a beautiful shot by A.Robinson, the second one was a beautiful header by Pepi, the third goal was a nice slotted goal from Aaronson on a nice Pepi pass and the last goal came from Lletget on a rebound of a Pepi shot. Pepi is the Man of the Match. These second half boys made the USMNT finally look like a team full of Europeans going into Honduras and getting a result, but the irony is the MLS based players balled out. This lineup was the youngest lineup to have ever started a WCQ for the USMNT. Ricardo Pepi becomes the second youngest USMNT starter ever, only behind Captain America (Pulisic) himself.
I think we can all agree that this 9 position is Ricardo Pepi’s to lose. Sargent and Pefok need to show me and the United States fanbase something before even thinking about getting that spot back. It’s the day after the USA Honduras matchup and I can tell you there is no stress thing about the USMNT. Ricardo Pepi is going home to FC Dallas to play vs the San Jose Earthquakes this weekend and everything returns to normal. 2 Italian teams came knocking to sign Pepi this last transfer window and it seems like that trend will continue. His debut performance in WCQ will only make his price skyrocket. Let’s not forget Ricardo Pepi is a Mexican-American with his trajectory of going to Europe every passing minute. He chose to play for the United States of America. The USMNT repaid him by playing him a full 90 minutes in his debut. Mexico unfortunately could not offer that to him. A Mexican American playing in MLS, no way they can give him 90 minutes in a WCQ. If Pepi becomes at least a pivotal bench player for the USMNT then this a win in the Gregg Berhalter era. A win that, we need to give credit when credit is deserved, proves that Gregg Berhalter can attract talent. A trait that Jurgen Klinsmann was so good at. Something the USMNT needs is to keep their player pool with the best talent possible.
Berhalter made every single decision right in the second half, he made a decision to take off Sargent and leave on Pepi. This decision caused the United States to score 4 goals for the first time ever away in a WCQ. Berhalter was on the hot seat, but since Mexico dropped some points vs Costa Rica, the seat got cold. It was reassuring seeing that Berhalter can make changes mid game, and find a way to win.
Looking forward to the next couple of games for the USMNT, they have found a new striker in Pepi. They don’t have to worry about much because all the European players will be coming back healthy and ready to go. Hopefully Mckennie can calm down and help this squad succeed. The USMNT take on a harder series of teams next month in Jamaica, Costa Rica and Panama. The Mexico game will come as well, but we have to wait till November to see Ricardo Pepi score a hat trick on El Tri.