Ricardo Pepi HUNG UP on Gregg Berhalter when he was told he was out of USA World Cup team

Ricardo Pepi hung up on Gregg Berhalter when the coach under fire told him he was not included in the USA World Cup squad for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

Speaking on a podcast for Dutch club Groningen, for which Pepi currently plays, he spoke about how unimpressed he was with Berhalter’s decision.

“I remember exactly the moment: I received a phone call with the coach of the national team, he said that he was not on the list, so I just hung up on him,” Pepi said.

One of the podcast hosts chimed in and said, ‘You didn’t ask why?’

“No, not really,” Pepi said, never directly mentioning Berhalter by name. ‘I was in shock, it took me five minutes to get it into my mind. I just couldn’t believe it: I called my agent right away, and then I called my dad. They thought he was playing with them.

Ricardo Pepi says he hung up on Gregg Berhalter when they told him he wasn’t in the World Cup

‘It was something that surprised me to be honest. I use every situation and every situation like this is always going to make you hungry.’

Meanwhile, Berhalter, the now-uncontracted USMNT coach, revealed Tuesday that he had physically abused his now-wife Rosalind in 1991, kicking her in the legs in a drunken row.

He also said that someone outside the organization had threatened to ‘take him down’.

Earlier Wednesday, former USMNT midfielder Claudio Reyna and his wife Danielle, the parents of underdog midfielder Gio Reyna, admitted to reporting the incident to US Soccer.

It came after Berhalter surprisingly gave Reyna, one of the most exciting players in American soccer, a minor role on the team. Berhalter later said in a Charter leadership report that she nearly sent a team member home from Qatar due to her “extreme” misbehavior.

Berhalter did not reveal who the player was, but reports later surfaced that it was Gio Reyna, prompting the 19-year-old to address the speculation on Instagram.

“I am disappointed that there is continued coverage of this matter … and extremely surprised that anyone on the US men’s team would contribute to it,” Reyna said. “Coach Berhalter has always said that any problems that arise with the team will stay ‘at home’ so we can focus on unity and team progress.”

Reyna’s statement was liked by several American players, including star midfielder Yunus Musah, Tim Ream, Joe Scally and Pepi himself. Pepi’s quotes will now only appear to further undermine Berhalter’s authority.

Pepi said he never pursued an explanation from Berhalter later because he didn’t want one.

“That’s something I didn’t want to know, I didn’t want to make excuses for myself,” Pepi explained. ‘My mentality was that it was time to get to work. A day or two of digesting it and then accepting the fact that I didn’t get it meant it was time to get to work.

“I watched the games, I have teammates and some of them are great friends, I support the country, so it’s important to watch the game.”

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