USMNT
Who will play for USMNT, Ricardo Pepi or Folarin Balogun?
Gregg Berhalter has a huge choice to make and has not yet decided on whether to go for Pepi or Balogun as his first-choice striker.
The United States National Team are looking good. After beating Ghana and playing well in parts yet losing against a new-look Germany side, the Stars and Stripes can finally claim to be back. However, the international break has created a lot of question marks around the decisions Gregg Berhalter has to make, with the number 9 position the biggest doubt of all.
Two young strikers, Ricardo Pepi and Folarin Balogun, are going head to head to be the starter in a promising team with plenty to play for, but that only allows one centre-forward in the system.
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Ricardo Pepi or Folarin Balogun?
It is a tough decision, and Berhalter has so far gone with sharing the minutes between the two, giving either part of or a whole game to one and then alternating, in order to see both players in action. This situation is nothing new in football: in every successful team there has been one standout player up front, stopping arguments about who works best in the style and under a certain coach. Argentina have the question of choosing between Lautaro Martínez and Julián Álvarez but looking at France, with Giroud, or England, with Kane, shows that every top tier national side has their goalscoring hero.
The USMNT are lucky to have two young forwards in their squad, and are in a good position to be able to debate about who deserves to play. Balogun, who has more experience and recently surprised by taking the Europa League by storm with Reims, scored 22 goals last season. Now at Monaco things haven’t gone as smoothly, but little by little he is seeing success in Ligue 1, and has 3 goals in 5 games. He is a fast striker who can play well using the space in behind and his whiplash right boot makes him, on paper, the best option for the States.
The next few years are crucial for the USMNT
On the other hand, Ricardo Pepi is in the second year of his time in the Dutch Ereidivisie, settling into a league that seems to suit him well. His first season at Groningen he scored 13 goals which gave him the platform to make the jump to PSV. In the same way as Balogun, this season he has 3 goals, but in 11 games. Berhalter’s expectations of Pepi are high, but there is still some way to go for the player.
The USMNT’s calendar is written in red for the next three years, and every single game is crucial. The Copa América is next year and on home soil, when it will be the perfect time to measure the threat the team poses against elite opposition. The squad could be one that ends up making history: Pulisic, Dest or Weah could all be the flag-bearers for a side to guide a generation of young talent through that has a lot to prove.
The 2026 World Cup, also on home soil, is the fantasy. Here is where Musah, Balogun, Pepi and Reyna can lead the team against the best sides in the world.
