USMNT news: Pepi goal, Carter-Vickers title, McKenzie on form

Today’s USMNT news includes Ricardo Pepi scoring again for FC Groningen, Cameron Carter-Vickers’ Celtic winning the Scottish Premiership and Mark McKenzie is on form for Genk. 

USMNT news: Ricardo Pepi scores again

Ricardo Pepi scored for FC Groningen in their 1-1 draw with Go Ahead Eagles. However, the result means that Groningen is relegated from the Eredivisie.

According to Opta Johan “Pepi (20 years, 118 days) is the youngest player with 15 goal involvements for FC Groningen in a single Eredivisie season since Luis Suarez in 2006-07.” Groningen still has three league games left to play where Pepi can add to his goal tally.

Suarez went on to have a very successful career at Liverpool and Barcelona. If Pepi can get anywhere close to what Suarez achieved then the USMNT forward would have done very well.

Pepi is only on loan at Groningen from Augsburg. There has been talk that he might be heading to a better team in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord both interested. Suarez made a similar move joining Ajax from Groningen before making the transfer to Liverpool.

There have been rumors of Pepi being linked with teams in Europe’s top five leagues. Pepi may want to test himself at a higher level but it might be better for his development to stay in the Eredivisie.

USMNT news: Cameron Carter-Vickers’ Celtic win title

Cameron Carter-Vickers did not feature in Celtic’s 2-0 victory over Hearts which clinched the Scottish Premiership title. However, the American did appear on the pitch in his crutches to join in with the celebrations.

Carter-Vickers had recently undergone knee surgery and had been ruled out for the rest of the season and will miss the USMNT‘s Nations League semi-final against Mexico and the Gold Cup.

The defender made 29 appearances in the Scottish Premiership this season as his side claimed back-to-back titles. He also played in the Champions League for the first time in his career.

Carter-Vickers is contracted to Celtic until 2026 and should be fit for their next campaign as the Hoops look to win three league titles in a row.

USMNT news: Mark McKenzie is on fire

Mark McKenzie has been on form for Genk recently. The USMNT international has now scored in his last three matches which is very impressive considering McKenzie is a center-back. McKenzie joined the Belgian side from Philadelphia Union and he has now made 56 appearances in the Jupiler Pro League.

McKenzie has played 11 times for the USMNT but unfortunately did not make the World Cup roster. He has since played against Grenada in the Nations League this year and with the performances he has been putting in recently he will no doubt get more caps for his country.

Genk is currently competing in the Jupiler Pro League Champions Playoffs, where McKenzie’s side has a chance at winning the title. They still have four matches to play this season.