United States

How USMNT star Sergiño Dest is trying to keep soccer skillful

Updated Sep. 23, 2024 4:24 p.m. ET

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Doug McIntyre

Soccer Journalist

It's probably not a coincidence that the U.S. national team's miserable summer of 2024 took place with Sergiño Dest forced to watch from the other side of the world as his country struggled without him.

Dest — the mercurial 23-year-old USMNT right back, 2022 World Cup veteran and an automatic starter when he's healthy — missed this month's two friendly matches and the June/July Copa América while recovering from the ACL injury he suffered last spring.

And the Americans were rendered almost entirely toothless without one of their most potent attacking threats, becoming the first Copa host eliminated in the group stage (a failure that cost then-coach Gregg Berhalter his job) and then losing exhibitions to Canada and tying New Zealand on home soil in September in their next two games.

Dest saw the Copa debacle unfold from his home in the Netherlands and couldn't understand what was happening. 

"The energy level was low," Dest, who was born to a Dutch mother and American serviceman dad, told FOX Sports in an exclusive interview.  "We're a good team, but we all know that we're not the best individually. Our biggest strength as a nation is intensity, chemistry and playing together and working hard for each other. If we don't do that, we won't win many games."

Although Dest can't wait to get back on the field, he's been keeping busy in the meantime. Rehab with PSV Eindhoven is progressing well; he was included on the club's 2024-25 Champions League roster and expects to return to action in January. Dest has also occupied his time by completing what has long been a personal passion project: opening a mini-pitch in his old neighborhood in Almere, a small city around 20 miles east of Amsterdam where he grew up.

As a player, Dest is best known for his jaw-dropping ball skills. His ability to consistently make would-be defenders look foolish as he beats them with moves few professionals would dare even try has taken him from Ajax to Barcelona to AC Milan to PSV — four of Europe's most storied clubs, with 17 continental titles between them.

Last December, during a first round Champions League match against English titans Arsenal, video of the PSV bench's reaction to Dest slipping the ball through the legs of Gunners left back Jakub Kiwior exploded on social media.

It was the sort of instinctive, audacious play that Dest first saw performed by older kids on the concrete court near his childhood home. Entranced, he began practicing his skills on his own. Eventually, he mastered them.

"I feel like that's why we all love soccer," Dest says. "We all love football because of all the players doing skills. You're like, ‘Whoa, that's so nice. I want to be like him.' You know? I think this is something that stimulates them to go to the field, to play with their friends."

Yet Dest also sees the professional ranks changing. Modern top-level soccer is faster, more athletic and more tactical with each passing year. Coaches from the academies to the first teams have an outsize influence, and they are often risk-adverse. There's less room for improvisation. "How the next generations are playing is more technical, and I feel like some skills are getting slowly, slowly out of the game." Dest said.

Which is why he spent his own money to create the Sergiño Dest Court in Almere, which officially opens on Sept. 27. The idea is simple.

"Basically, it's a way to get all these skills," he said. "It's small, so you can go alone or with a couple friends, and you learn how to not just punch the ball forward and run. You have to control it in tight spaces. You can run a little bit, but you need to find other solutions to beat your opponent."

Dest's flair hasn't always been embraced by his own coaches. Former Barcelona manager Xavi, in particular, was not a fan. "I understand, but that's also how I reached this level. That's also how I got to Barcelona," Dest said. "He wanted someone who could play one touch, two touch. Which is also okay, but it didn't fit my game anymore."

He spent last season on loan with PSV, and was such a hit for Peter Bosz's side that the club bought him outright in June.

As much as Dest loves his tricks, he is quick to stress that he doesn't do them to show off or simply because he can. He offers that nutmeg of Arsenal's Kiwior by way of example.

"People said it was too nasty or that I ended his career, and it's funny, but it was also functional," he says. "It worked. I got past him. I got past him in the most beautiful way."

Beauty that had its origins in the freestyle sessions of Dest's youth. But building the mini-pitch isn't just about soccer for Dest. There's a social aspect to it, too.

"I used to ask the older guys how they did tricks, and they would teach me," Dest says. "It was kind of a way to make new friends, to meet new people with the same hobby."

There were three small pitches near where Dest was raised, but they weren't always in the best condition. That was another motivating force for Dest. "I would've loved to have a crazy-nice customized field when I was younger," he says. "That's part of the reason I wanted to give back."

Dest is hoping to build similar soccer courts elsewhere in the future, including in the United States. He hasn't settled on a location, but hopes to have one open stateside before the U.S. co-hosts the 2026 World Cup.

Before that, Dest's short-term goal is to return to full training with PSV. If all goes as expected, his first camp under new USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino will come in March, when the Americans go for a fourth consecutive Concacaf Nations League crown. Dest's most recent international appearance came in March's Nations League final versus Mexico, during which his technical wizardry even had El Tri supporters leaping from their seats.

Those types of unpredictable, game-altering runs were nowhere to be seen this summer. They'll be welcome and sorely needed in the build-up to 2026, and at the main event itself.

"I haven't met him or spoken to him yet, but I think he can be a great coach for us, definitely," Dest said of Pochettino. "He's coached a lot of big clubs."

When healthy, Dest figures to be a key member of the new boss' core. "I hope so,"  said Dest. "I'm looking forward to seeing how he thinks I can help."

Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports. A former staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports, he has covered U.S. men's and women's national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.

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