Here are 10 things to know about FC Dallas forward Ricardo Pepi.
1. The basics
Pos.: Forward
Ht., wt.: 6-1, 163 pounds
Born: Jan. 9, 2003
Hometown: El Paso
2. Early days
Here’s an excerpt from a profile Jon Arnold from The Striker Texas wrote on Pepi earlier this year:
Pepi fell in love with soccer early. At age four, he already wanted a ball at his feet and started playing for his first rec team in El Paso.
It wasn’t long until he was playing for a more competitive team, with his dad acting as the coach.
“When he was eight or nine, another dad who helped me coach them decided there wasn’t much more we could teach them,” Daniel Pepi said this week.
The new coach made modifications, including changing the club name from Lions to Boca Juniors, but soon it was subsumed into FC Dallas’ El Paso arm.
That’s where Pepi first came onto the radar of scouts from the professional club, including Francisco Molina, a scout and youth coach who worked with FCD for many years before starting his own academy this year.
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“We had gone to El Paso to scout and he was still like a baby deer because he had grown so much and was a little uncoordinated but always had a lot of enthusiasm,” Molina said. “You could tell he got some coordination behind him. He stood out again because of his height and strength and now was getting some speed behind him.”
Molina knew Pepi was going to be something special. (So did coaches at several Mexican clubs, who FCD tried to keep as far away from their star recruit as possible).
3. Homegrown product
Coming from the club’s youth affiliate in El Paso, Pepi signed with the FC Dallas Academy when he was 13 years old. He appeared in 15 games and scored 18 goals in his first season and followed up with 13 appearances and 12 goals for the U-14 team. The prodigy continued to rise within the club -- during the 2017-18 season, he advanced to the U-16 squad at just 14 years old and scored 19 goals in eight games for U-17 at 15 years old.
Pepi went pro in 2018, becoming the North Texas Soccer Club’s first signing in team history. He established himself as an impact player early on: during his pro debut in March 2019, he scored his first professional hat trick in a 3-2 win over the Chattanooga Red Wolves. Pepi went on to score 11 goals in 13 matches and the FC Dallas affiliate won the 2019 USL-1 Championship.
On December 6, 2018, Ricardo Pepi became our first-ever player.
— North Texas SC (@northtexasSC) July 27, 2021
Look at where he is now 🌟 pic.twitter.com/IsMl96w7KU
4. Teenage sensation
A few months prior to North Texas SC’s championship run, the team loaned then 16-year-old Pepi to its parent club. Pepi made his FCD debut on June 12, 2019 and has been a fixture ever since. He has become the club’s breakout star, leading the team in scoring this season. At 18 years and 196 days old, Pepi became the youngest player in MLS and FC Dallas history to score a hat trick when he accomplished the feat against the LA Galaxy on July 24.
5. MLS All-Star
Pepi made his first of what’s expected to be many MLS All-Star appearances this year. The teenage star was impressive in his All-Star debut, scoring the game-winning penalty for MLS to beat LIGA MX on Aug. 25 in Los Angeles.
6. United States or Mexico?
Born to Mexican parents, Pepi had the option of representing the United States or Mexico on the national stage. Much to the surprise of many, the El Paso native decided to join the U.S. men’s national soccer team. Pepi scored his first international goal to break a second-half tie at Honduras in his international debut on Sept. 8 and recently became the youngest American to score in consecutive qualifiers after leading the U.S. to a 2-0 win over Jamaica.
7. ‘A big sacrifice’
Pepi was born and raised in San Elizario, a small community close to El Paso. As a 13-year-old with plenty of potential, Pepi made the difficult decision to leave his family behind and follow his dreams in Frisco.
“Having my family nine hours away, and then having them leave their family to come here — I mean, most of my family lives across the border in Mexico or in El Paso — that was a big sacrifice,” Pepi told Aaron Kasinitz earlier this year. “I want to make it pay off.”
8. All aboard the Pepi hype train
You could say that FC Dallas social media coordinator Eddie Koton is the conductor of the Pepi hype train. Back in July, Koton promised the club’s Twitter followers that he’d get a Pepi hype train tattoo if Pepi was selected to the 2021 MLS All-Star Game. Sure enough, the teenage sensation was named to the roster and Koton made good on his promise with a Pepi-approved face tattoo.
Koton may be one of, if not the first to get a Pepi tattoo, but he believes he won’t be the last: “When that kid’s 23 and 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 forward. The new deal with FCD comes as foreign interest begins to ramp up, helping guarantee both Pepi’s future in North Texas and a return on the club’s investment if the time to sell ever does come.
10. Staying grounded
Coming from a modest background, Pepi has always been determined to stay grounded in the midst of his growing fame. The 18-year-old graduated from high school in June and still lives with his parents. Pepi told The Dallas Morning News last year that he wants to pursue a college degree affording him the knowledge to manage funds and run his own business.
Find more FC Dallas coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.