SOCCER

Sergiño Dest at risk of losing his USMNT place

The Barcelona right-back has not had the preseason he would have wanted.

Diego Ibarra
Soccrates ImagesGetty

As part of the match for the Joan Gamper Trophy prior to the start of the new La Liga campaign, FC Barcelona ended its preseason with a 6-0 win over Pumas at Camp Nou. Due to the different rumours regarding his future and his desire to stay with the Blaugrana, Sergiño Dest could be in for less game time this season.

For the American defender, the first half of the new season should be one in which he enjoys minutes and beyond being part of a club like Barça, he can compete against rivals of the highest level arrive at the Qatar World Cup 2022 as one of the stars of Gregg Berhalter’s United States National Team.

Unfortunately for Sergiño, one issue that has been quite worrying is the lack of trust that Xavi has placed in him during friendly matches, mainly in those matches that are understood to be the most demanding or significant for Barcelona, since he was a substitute against Real Madrid, Juventus and Pumas.

Although regular playing time was expected for the Dutch-born player with the departure of Dani Alves and the failure to lure César Azpilicueta, everything seems to indicate that the American will not play big games since both Ronald Araújo and Jules Koundé can function on the right flank, in addition to Sergi Roberto.

In addition to this, the other options for the right-back with the USMNT are DeAndre Yedlin and Joe Scally, who are starters with Inter Miami of the MLS and Borussia Mönchengladbach, respectively. Given this, it is clear that his place in the starting eleven with the US may be in doubt for this year’s World Cup.

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