U.S. men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino and the program’s fans will be holding their breaths. Ricardo Pepi was substituted off in the first half of PSV’s 2-1 Eredivisie win over Excelsior on Saturday. The USMNT striker had two goals to his name in the early stages of the new league campaign, but now could face a spell on the sidelines.Pepi scored twice for PSV back on September 13 in a 5-3 league win over NEC Nijmegen. The 22-year-old had jumped into the No. 1 striker spot this summer following Luuk De Jong’s move to FC Porto. Despite mainly being a backup last season, Pepi scored 17 goals in all competitions, which was a career-best for the former MLS product. However, a spell on the sidelines could hamper his chances for USMNT involvement this fall. The USMNT will have a pair of home friendlies in October against Ecuador and Australia respectively before also taking on Uruguay and Paraguay in November. Pepi wasn’t the only American player for fans to worry about as Sergino Dest also missed the match through injury as well. Both Pepi and Dest will be major losses for PSV, if they are expected to miss ample time.PSV manager Peter Bosz did not have an update on Pepi’s status and admitted further evaluations will be needed to diagnose his injury.“I’m not going to take a risk at this stage with someone who has minor complaints. Further research will have to show what it looks like,” Bosz said in a club interview. PSV will continue UEFA Champions League play this week at Bayer Leverkusen.