USMNT boss Gregg Berhalter criticised fullback Sergino Dest after he was sent off for two yellows in 20 seconds against Trinidad.
A 10-man U.S. men’s national team lost 2-1 to Trinidad and Tobago on Monday in Port of Spain. However, Berhalter’s side qualified for the Nations League semifinals with a 4-2 win on aggregate. They also qualified for the 2024 Copa America.
USMNT finished the match with 10 man after Sergino Dest was sent off for picking up two yellow cards in 20 seconds for dissent. USA players tried to keep Dest away from the referee, but he refused to listen to them.
Berhalter: Dest made a dumb mistake and he knows that
After the match, Gregg Berhalter criticised Dest for his ‘dumb mistake’ but added he would learn from the incident.
“It is concerning because that’s not what we want to represent. That’s not who we are as a group. We pride ourselves on staying mentally disciplined, battling through any type of conditions, whether they’re good decisions or bad decisions. We’re supposed to keep going and respond in an appropriate way, and that obviously wasn’t the right response from Sergino. He apologized to the group. He said it’s not going to happen again. As a team, players, the staff, we need to hold him accountable because it’s inexcusable. It really is and we were very firm with our with our words after the game. He put a number of guys in jeopardy and made a number of guys do a lot of extra work in this weather and it’s inexcusable.”
Berhalter added: “I’ve beek asked three or four questions about Sergino already and I don’t want this to become a witch hunt. He’s a young player, he’s a fantastic part of this team. He’s gonna learn, he’s gonna grow. He made a dumb mistake and he knows that. He apologized to the team and we will move forward.”
