Ricardo Pepi, Justin Che right to take Bundesliga risk, even amidst challenges

Hit the snooze button. Head to your pickup match. Run to the store to buy the brats for the FC Dallas-Real Salt Lake tailgate. 

North Texas soccer fans may have circled Saturday's matchup between FC Augsburg and Hoffenheim when the Bundesliga fixtures came out earlier in the summer. Chances are, however, that forward Ricardo Pepi will make only a cameo for Augsburg and defender Justin Che will be with Hoffenheim II for a trip to Stuttgart.

It is not so hard to imagine a slightly different scenario than the present reality for the FC Dallas alumni. The two players left FCD highly regarded, with Pepi starting for the U.S. national team and Che the brightest defensive prospect the team had produced since Chris Richards, who he'd be joining at Hoffeinheim. Why wouldn't a match eight months after their marquee moves be a showdown of the best attacking talent FCD ever has produced against one of its top defenders?

Instead, Pepi has come off the bench in the first three matches of the season for Augsburg, putting together 37 minutes of action as he continues his search for his first goal in Germany. That total is similar to what Che saw in the spring, playing 39 minutes over two contests. This season, he's working back from a knock suffered in preseason and is yet to make the bench for the senior side.

Sometimes, the mind wanders to the butterfly effect questions. What if Pepi hadn't left FCD? We definitely wouldn't be seeing such a strong season from Jesus Ferreira. While first-year FCD manager Nico Estévez always has seen Ferreira as a No. 9, he'd at best be splitting minutes with Pepi. The El Paso native, though, would have some goals for FCD and still would be pushing for starting minutes from U.S. national team manager Gregg Berhalter — minutes that currently look more likely to go to Ferreira.

Che may be the more intriguing case. Deputizing at right back last season, Che had moments where you saw the same potential European club scouts have identified, and he has the physical tools needed to reach those lofty levels. This year, though, FCD has needed a lockdown third center back, and it's likely Che would have well over 1,000 MLS minutes had he stayed instead of going on the 18-month loan to Hoffenheim.

Yet, while neither player bolstered their 2022 World Cup hopes by taking the jump, that doesn't mean their Bundesliga moves were the wrong choice. Rather than be criticized for a move that didn't work out, teenagers need to be encouraged for making the move at all. FCD has moved on fine without them, benefiting from the record fee Pepi drew and the ability to point to Pepi and Che as two more in a long line of academy products who are living the dream.

That dream may not be as sweet as either player envisioned, but they'll be better players and people for it in the long run. There is still plenty of time for Che to impress at the reserve level and find his way into the first team. Pepi needs one goal in one of his substitute appearances to knock the lid off, get past whatever mental block may be in place and once again push for inclusion on the World Cup squad.

And, speaking of the World Cup, with both players yet to hit their 20th birthday, the 2026 World Cup on home soil and the tournaments beyond that are very much still in play should they find the form so many expected them to find.

Pepi's meteoric rise was deceiving in that it made it appear that development is linear, that it's a straight line to the top. He went from the academy to North Texas, where he was a star. Last season, he scored goals in MLS, scored as an All-Star, scored as a national team player and left a scoring star. 

Success rarely comes without setbacks. The best overcome those obstacles in their path, the dips in the line pointing to the top, to be even better.

This Saturday's Augsburg-Hoffeinheim match won't be appointment viewing for soccer fans in North Texas, but that doesn't make the transfers a failure. A little work, a little luck and FCD fans will soon be setting their alarms to see Pepi and Che performing at their best in the Bundesliga.