|
Sergino Dest will start. That was the biggest news coming out of Thursday afternoon's news conference with United States men's coach Gregg Berhalter in advance of the team's Friday night match against Mexico at MetLife Stadium. "He's doing great in camp," the manager said of the 18-year-old Ajax defender. "He's going to start the game tomorrow. It's a great opportunity for us ... to give him an opportunity with the first team. That's what's nice about this story." Dest, who was born and raised in the Netherlands but whose father is a U.S. citizen, has enjoyed a strong start to the season in the Eredivisie with the Ajax senior team after coming up through their youth ranks. - O'Hanlon: Could Dest be U.S. Soccer's 'Next Big Thing'? He also featured for the U.S. U20s during their run to the quarterfinals of the Under-20 World Cup earlier this summer. "It's not about, to me, the dual nationalism of him. It's about that he's come from our programming and he's performed well. He's really achieved something in this short month at Ajax, and it's nice to be able to reward that." - Stream games LIVE on ESPN+
- Inter Miami FC: How the franchise is shaping up
- MLS Confidential: The definitive player poll Berhalter said his team was looking forward to the challenge of taking on their regional rival, while admitting that Mexico represented a formidable opponent. "We're both in a position where we're battling for supremacy in CONCACAF," he said. "We're both trying to be the top team. I think right now, Mexico is slightly ahead of us, having beaten us in the last game and having performed well over the last few years. "But when we play them you see the intensity takes a different level. Everything is up a level. The intensity of the game is up. The tackles are a little bit harder. And these are special games. It's always an occasion to be playing against Mexico." In their last match, the Americans lost 1-0 to Mexico in the final of the Gold Cup. Friday night's affair represents a chance to alter the game plan and get a result. "That's the beauty of playing them in the next game," Berhalter said. "You get to make adjustments. You get to look at what you want to work on, how you want to work." One of the more controversial decisions from that Gold Cup roster was the absence of teenage forward Josh Sargent. On Thursday, Berhalter explained why the Werder Bremen attacker was left off the roster and how he recovered to make this one. "At the time, seeing Josh and having him in camp, we thought the best decision was to leave him off the roster," he said. "And, I think the rest is how the player responds. It's not us making these decisions that can change the course of history. It's entirely up to the player and how he responds. "I would say Josh responded in the fashion that we'd expect or that we'd want. He was very motivated. He used the time to first rest, and then attack the season." The U.S. head coach also talked about how he plans to deploy star Christian Pulisic. "We want to put him in position to be able to help our team and affect the game," he said. "He's got a great skill set. He's a game-changer. We want to put him in position to get the ball and hurt the opponent."
|
