Plymouth striker Pepple earns first Canada call-up
Bim Pepple has scored nine goals in his past 12 appearances for Plymouth Argyle
- Published
Plymouth Argyle striker Bim Pepple has been called up to the Canada national team for the first time.
The 23-year-old has been in excellent form for the League One side in recent months, scoring nine goals in his past 12 appearances.
Pepple was brought up in Calgary, having been born in England, and played in Canada's top flight for Cavalry FC before joining Luton Town in 2022.
He moved to Argyle last summer and has hit a rich vein of form in recent months after struggling at the start of his time at Home Park.
"For Argyle to be represented by a player playing for a major nation like Canada we're all so proud of him, his form's deserved that," Plymouth Argyle head coach Tom Cleverley told BBC Radio Devon.
"Sometimes what happens is because he's playing in the third tier that can get overlooked, I know how the systems work, but thankfully they've seen through that and seen how well he's performing against strong teams.
"I'm so delighted because he had to prove a lot of people wrong at the start, which he did, and he did that through hard work and belief.
"Now he's flourishing and that's been represented by a call-up for his national team."
Argyle's League One fixture against Bradford City on 28 March has been postponed as Pepple, Conor Hazard (Northern Ireland) and Brendan Galloway (Zimbabwe) have all selected for international duty.
Depending on travel arrangements, Pepple might be a doubt for the visit of Bolton Wanderers to Home Park on Friday, 3 April.
The striker's goals have helped guide Argyle up to 10th with Cleverley's side just two points outside the play-offs.
Bim Pepple could be just the second Plymouth Argyle player to play at a World Cup
Canada have friendlies against Iceland and Tunisia in Toronto over the international break as they prepare for this summer's World Cup, where they will be joint hosts alongside the United States and Mexico.
Should Pepple be called up for the World Cup, he would be just the second Plymouth Argyle player to play at the tournament.
He will follow in the footsteps of Rory Fallon who represented New Zealand at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
"To be on that list would be an unbelievable achievement," added Cleverley.
"Bim knows what he needs to do to get there - his all-round game has been excellent, not just his goalscoring record.
"He needs to continue that consistently and he's got every chance.
"I'm sure he'll be determined to impress the staff out there on his first call-up and he's a great guy.
"You don't want too many guys that are not pulling in the same direction when you're all together for six weeks for a tournament, so he's got a lot going for him and let's hope he does well next week."
