Ricardo Pepi on World Cup call-up: ‘All the work I’ve put in makes it a little more special’

On May 30, 2026

The U.S. Men’s National Team forward addressed the media ahead of Sunday’s warm-up match against Senegal.

Video Transcript

Yeah, of course, very excited of course to be able to compete with the boys, home soil in front of our fans, in front of our crowd.

But of course all the work that I’ve put in, you know, it just makes it a little bit more special and, you know, it’s, something exciting for me and for my family.

How would you describe your head coach, Mauricio Pochettino?

Yeah, I feel like, you know, he’s great, to be honest.

He’s, kind of brought out this side of, you know, just being intense and giving us that belief that we can compete versus every single team in the world.

So, you know, I feel like it’s, he’s a good fit for us.

On Friday, June 12th, when you’re getting ready to take on Paraguay in LA, when you hear that national anthem playing, what’s, kind of thoughts and feelings are you gonna be running through your body?

Yeah, I think just thinking about it, you know, it already gives me a little bit of chills.

I think it’s gonna be a fantastic moment and, you know, just gonna be prepared for, for whatever comes ahead.

You grew up watching soccer, playing soccer with your family, particularly your father.

What type of impact has he had on your professional career getting you to this point?

Yeah, he’s been very important.

Of course, you know, I’ve said it before, he’s, he was my coach till when I turned 10 year- 10 years old, so you know, he’s had a major impact of course.

You know, just sharing the love of the game, love of the game with him has, you know, it’s, it’s been very special.

And how’s the chemistry been with the team so far?

What are you guys looking forward to the most going into the World Cup just around the corner?

Yeah, it’s been great, man, to be honest.

You know, it’s always good to be back with the boys, like I said, and you know, we’re very excited of, of the opportunity we have ahead of, ahead of us and, you know, just playing in this World Cup in front of our country, it’s gonna be amazing.

And, just kind of something we’ve been asking the rest of the players, but what have you seen out of the development of youth soccer in America?

Just kind of the growth overall of, of the sport.

Yeah, I think it’s been amazing, to be honest.

Like, you can see that, you know, soccer in America in general, it’s been, it’s been growing and, and I think it’s gonna get even better and it’s gonna grow a lot more.

So, you know, it’s up to us to also put that, put that stamp on, on the map and just be able to, you know, make people fall in love with it.

These are, you got two friendlies left before the actual competition.

How important are these just to really get everything pinned down?

Yeah, super important.

You know, like I said, we, we like to compete.

We wanna, we wanna have a good feeling going into the World Cup, so it’s super important to be able to, you know, just finish those last little details and be able to win these two games.

What have been some of the challenges you guys have faced as a team or even yourself individually as you prepare for the Cup?

Yeah, I feel like individually we’ve all had, you know, tough seasons, of course, hard moments throughout the whole, the whole season.

But you know, at the end of the day, it’s, it’s amazing to be able to share the locker room with these guys and, you know, prepare for one of the biggest tournaments in the world.

You, you’ve missed some time over the last couple years with a knee and arm injuries.

Just what did you learn about yourself in that time away from the pitch?

Yeah, I think the most important has been patience, man, to be honest.

You know, generally I’m not really a patient person.

You know, I always want to be on the pitch as much as possible, but of course, you know, it’s helped me mature a lot.

It’s helped me be a little bit more patient and, you know, just helped me realize that things happen for a reason.

How have practices changed from, you know, your time with club to even the beginning stages of the World Cup to now?

You know, it’s right around the corner for you guys.

Yeah, of course.

You know, there’s a lot of intensity.

You know, there’s a lot of tactical things that we, we’ve been working on as a team.

you know, it’s getting serious of course, so you know, we’re really just, like I said, fine-tuning these last little details to, to be able to go in strong into the World Cup.

Your head coach, Mauricio Pochettino, said earlier this year when asked about the prospects of this team at this World Cup, “Why not us?

We need to dream.

Dreams inspire reality.”

How do you achieve that this summer?

Yeah, you know, like we said, we’ve always been able to, to dream of course, and he’s given us that, that view.

So, you know, it’s just very important that we c- that we believe in ourselves and, you know, believe that we can win this tournament.

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