From homegrown product to rising superstar

Here are 10 things you should know about Ricardo Pepi, FC Dallas forward.

1. The basics

Pos .: Forward

Ht., Wt .: 6-1, 163 pounds

Born: January 9th, 2003

Hometown: El Paso

2. Early days

Here is an excerpt from a profile that Jon Arnold of The Striker Texas wrote about Pepi earlier this year:

Pepi fell in love with football early on. At the age of four he wanted a ball at his feet and started playing for his first rec team in El Paso.

It wasn’t long before he started playing for a more competitive team, with his father serving as the coach.

“When he was eight or nine years old, another dad who was helping me train them decided there wasn’t much we could teach them,” Daniel Pepi said this week.

The new coach made changes, including changing the club name from Lions to Boca Juniors, but he was soon inducted into the El Paso arm of FC Dallas.

It was here that Pepi first came on the radar of the professional club’s scouts, including Francisco Molina, a scout and youth coach who worked for FCD for many years before founding his own academy this year.

…

“We went to El Paso to scout out and he was still like a baby deer because he was so big and a little uncoordinated, but always had a lot of enthusiasm,” said Molina. “You could see that he has some coordination behind him. He stood out again for his size and strength and now had some speed behind him. “

Molina knew that Pepi was going to be special. (Also coach at several Mexican clubs that the FCD wanted to keep away from its star recruits as much as possible).

Read the whole story here.

3. Own product

Pepi came from the club’s youth department in El Paso and signed with the FC Dallas Academy at the age of 13. He played 15 games and scored 18 goals in his first season and followed with 13 appearances and 12 goals for the U-14 team. The child prodigy continued to advance within the club – in the 2017/18 season he was promoted to the U-16 squad at the age of 14 and scored 19 goals in eight games for the U-17s at the age of 15.

Pepi turned pro in 2018 and was the first addition to the North Texas Soccer Club in team history. He established himself as an impact player early on: on his professional debut in March 2019, he scored his first professional hat trick in a 3-2 win against the Chattanooga Red Wolves. Pepi scored 11 goals in 13 games and the subsidiary of FC Dallas won the 2019 USL 1 championship.

4. Teenage sensation

A few months before the North Texas SC championship run, the team loaned the then 16-year-old Pepi to his parent club. Pepi made his FCD debut on June 12, 2019 and has been a fixture ever since. He became the club’s breakout star and led the team that season. At 18 years and 196 days, Pepi became the youngest player in MLS and FC Dallas history to score a hat trick when he struck up the feat against the LA Galaxy on July 24th.

5. MLS All-Star

Pepi made his first of likely many MLS All-Star appearances this year. The teenage star was impressive on his All-Star debut, scoring the game-winning penalty for MLS on August 25 in Los Angeles to beat LIGA MX.

6. USA or Mexico?

Born to Mexican parents, Pepi had the opportunity to represent the United States or Mexico on the national stage. To the surprise of many, the El Paso native decided to join the US national soccer team. Pepi scored his first international goal on his international debut on September 8 in Honduras to break a second-half draw and was recently the youngest American to score in consecutive qualifiers after beating USA to a 2-0 Victory against Jamaica.

7. ‘A great sacrifice’

Pepi was born and raised in San Elizario, a small community near El Paso. As a 13-year-old with a lot of potential, Pepi made the difficult decision to leave his family behind and follow his dreams in Frisco.

“To have my family nine hours away and then let them leave their family to come here – I mean, most of my families live across the border in Mexico or in El Paso – that was a huge sacrifice,” Pepi said earlier to Aaron Kasinitz year. “I want it to pay off.”

8. Everyone on board the Pepi Hype train

You could say that FC Dallas social media coordinator Eddie Koton is the conductor on the Pepi Hype train. Back in July, Koton promised the club’s Twitter followers that he would get a Pepi Hype Train tattoo if Pepi was selected for the 2021 MLS All-Star Game. In fact, the teenage sensation got on the list, and Koton kept his promise with a Pepi-approved face tattoo.

FC Dallas Social Media Coordinator Eddie Koton unveils his new Pepi tattoo to Ricardo Pepi via Facetime at La Gallery TCTX in The Colony, TX on August 5th, 2021. (Jason Janik / Special Contributor)(Jason Janik / special article)

Koton may be one of the, if not the first, to get a Pepi tattoo, but he believes he won’t be the last: “When this kid is 23 and is the face of the world, there will be more Pepi tattoos . “

9. More money

Shortly after Pepi’s historic hat-trick this summer, FC Dallas promptly announced a five-year contract extension for the striker. The new contract with FCD comes with increasing foreign interest and will help guarantee both Pepi’s future in North Texas and a return on the club’s investment if the time to sell ever comes.

10. Stay on the ground

Hailing from a humble background, Pepi has always been determined to keep his feet on the ground amid his growing fame. The 18-year-old graduated from high school in June and is still living with his parents. Pepi told the Dallas Morning News last year that he would like to graduate from college that will give him the knowledge to manage funds and run his own business.

More coverage of FC Dallas in the Dallas Morning News can be found here.

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