How USMNT star Sergiño Dest is trying to keep soccer skillful

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' 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