Tough start at Milan for US defender Dest ahead of Qatar WC
Milan: US defender Sergino Dest joined Italian champion AC Milan with the hope of geting more playing time ahead of the World Cup.
He’s goten off to a tough start. “American Horror Story, a 45-minute episode,” was how Italian newspaper Gazzeta dello Sport described Dest’s Serie A debut, giving him a rating of five out of 10 for his performance in Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Napoli. Other newspapers labelled it “a catastrophe” or simply “bad.”
Dest, who joined on loan from Barcelona on transfer deadline day, had played in both of Milan’s Champions League group games but made his first appearance in the Italian league when he came on as a haltime substitute for Davide Calabria against Napoli.
He struggled from the outset and ater less than 10 minutes gave away the penalty that led to the opening goal - and Milan’s first loss of the season - when he fouled speedy Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
“Dest is a good player. As is Kvaratskhelia,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli said. “Calabria also struggled against the Georgian.”
The21-year-olddesthasasurinamese-american father and Dutch mother and chose to play for the United States instead of the Netherlands, where he was born and raised. He has scored two goals in 17 matches for the national team.
Dest started his career at Ajax before moving to Barcelona two years ago for 21 million euros (then $24.7 million) but he couldn’t establish himself as a regular starter.
He had plenty of minutes in his first season at Barcelona, under coach Ronald Koeman, but then his playing time gradually decreased. He nevertheless had chances under coach Xavi Hernández in the Europa League last season but also couldn’t take advantage of them.
And Dest knew that, with the World Cup approaching in November, he needed to have a regular place in a team.
United States coach Gregg Berhalter plans to announce his World Cup squad on Nov. 9, five days before the deadline to submit it to FIFA.
Dest is a first-choice right back for the American team and also a backup on the let behind Antonee Robinson.
If healthy, Dest seems almost guaranteed to start against Wales in the Americans’ opening group game on Nov. 21 - Deandre Yedlin, Reggie Cannon, Joe Scally are big drop-offs in comparison - but he’ll want to take some form with him to Qatar.
Germany faces an anxious wait to see if Borussia Dortmund captain Marco Reus will be ready in time for the World Cup following a serious-looking ankle injury in the Ruhr derby on Saturday.