United States men’s national team striker Ricardo Pepi is expected to miss around two months after sustaining a broken forearm while playing for PSV Eindhoven on Saturday. The Dutch club confirmed the injury following their 5-1 Eredivisie victory over Excelsior.
The 23-year-old suffered the fracture after landing awkwardly having scored PSV’s second goal. Medical examinations at hospital later that night revealed the break, and Pepi will undergo surgery on Sunday. PSV ruled him out for the immediate future but reported no complications.
PSV head coach Peter Bosz expressed his disappointment, noting that Pepi had recently recovered from a knee injury. “It didn’t look good right away and at such a moment you would prefer to look the other way,” Bosz said. “Last January Ricardo was already out due to his knee injury. It won’t last that long now, but unfortunately we lost him again.”
Pepi was forced off shortly after the incident and did not return. The setback halts a strong run of form for the American forward, who had re-established himself after his previous knee issue. Bosz added: “Pepi was on a good run, had a strong training camp and was all the way back. All signs were green for a strong second half of the season, so this is incredibly disappointing.”
The injury raises questions for the United States as they build towards this summer’s World Cup. Pepi has been a regular in the national team, scoring 13 goals in 34 appearances, and featured in the most recent international window in November. His availability for upcoming friendlies against Belgium on 28 March and Portugal three days later is now uncertain, with the World Cup opener against Mexico on 12 June providing a race against time for recovery.
