Sergino Dest committed his international future to the United States earlier this fall.
Friday night in Orlando, Dest put action to his pronouncement when he appeared for the United States men’s national team in its 4-1 win over Canada in the CONCACAF Nations League. His appearance in a competitive fixture permanently tied the 19-year-old to the USMNT.
“Sergino is a gamer,” said USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter afterward. “…When the bright lights are on, he has no problem performing. I haven’t really seen much like that from a player. The ability to step up and perform like that. With him, we’re really happy that he committed to us and is in the squad. It was on display today how calm he is in certain situations and how technical he is in situations. He’s really going to help our program moving forward.”
Dest started the match and played 90 minutes at fullback in the win.
Canada attacked the Ajax fullback early in the contest. The visitors deployed Alphonso Davies at left fullback, and routinely tried to find the Bayern Munich defender, as well as Jonathan Osorio, on the left early in the match.
The United States men’s national team has a core of prospects who appear to be the future of the program as it prepares to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. Dest, a dual national who could have appeared for The Netherlands, joins a core of Tyler Adams, Weston McKinnie, Christian Pulisic as well as others like 21-year-old defender Reggie Cannon as well as 19-year-old forward Josh Sargent and 19-year-old winger Timothy Weah.
