Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - #703: Sergiño Dest joins the pod

Episode Date: June 24, 2026

World Cup standout Sergiño Dest joins Sanjay and Charlie from USMNT camp in Orange County, Calif., for a brief chat. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the field we discuss on the show: https://www.patreon.com/scuffedCheck out our store, where you can get Scuffed hats and sweatshirts and other stuff: scuffedpodcast.com/storeAlso, check out Boots on the Ground, our USWNT-focused spinoff podcast headed up by Tara and Vince. They are cooking over there, you can listen here: https://boots-on-the-ground.simplecast.comAnd check out our MERCH, baby. We have better stuff than you might think: https://www.scuffedpodcast.com/store  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the Scuff Podcast when we talk about U.S. Soccer. Hey, everybody. Sanjay and Charlie Boe am here with Serginio Dest, who plays right wing now for the national team, and is at a wonderful World Cup so far. Serginio, welcome to the Scuff podcast. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. You guys are staying pretty far from downtown L.A., but in Seattle, even though it was a short trip, that stadium is downtown, and the energy is amazing there, even days before the game. Were you able to feel that, too? Yes, I did, I did. I mean, you know, the weather is amazing.

It's not too hot. It's not too cold. So that is good. It's a good advantage for us as well in the games. And, you know, the atmosphere at the stadium. Everything, it just fits together. So, you know, we're happy with our stay and especially in this west coast of the U.S. because it helps us as well on the games.

You're a west coast guy, aren't you? at heart. I won't say I'm a West Coast guy, but at the moment in the summer, for sure. Yes. Yes. That was your first time there, yeah? Seattle? Yes, it was my first time. But the atmosphere was amazing, yeah, for sure. And how many times did you play, do you remember playing in front of a big home crowd like that in the States? They were Cincinnati against Mexico, but... I mean, I feel like all the games against Mexico, for sure, yes. Yeah. But, um... Pro-US crowd? What do you think? To be honest, because I haven't played Gold Cups or something, NACIS League, I don't think was the same.

So I feel like just the friendlies before the World Cup, to be honest. It's the first time that I experienced the stadium, Dead Fool, with American fans. What do you think of country roads? Is that your type of track? Are you getting used to it? The country roads? Yeah. No, no, no, that is not me.

That is not me. No. You think you'll learn the words to that now if that becomes like the anthem? But you mean the anthem song? Just the anthem. No, no, no, no, country roads. Oh, country roads. After the game, when everyone was singing.

Oh, West Virginia. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's nice. It's a nice song. It's a nice song. But, I mean, yeah, it can be nice. It can be nice. It fits the moment, you know, after the game. It was nice to see everybody singing. And we listen a lot to that song, also in the dressing room and stuff.

So that is one of the songs, like from yeah you know the uh the pregame pregame anthem right the bull's song when you guys are walking in now chicago bull's song no i don't know that one okay it's the one it doesn't have words it's like got synthesizers but it's what the chicago bulls played before like michael jordan era i made it famous yeah yeah dun dun dun dun dun dun you hear that when you're walking in now no i don't remember i don't remember to be honest so a lot of people saw you from the artist that you are way back and wondered if you could play on the wing earlier in your career. I know you played there a bit that you felt right for IX.

Did you see this coming, this positional evolution? I'm actually not, but yeah, we changed the formation, you know. So I'm kind of a winger slash wingback, you know. It depends on what the team needs. Yeah, like one, I had an ACL injury and when I came back, the first game, under Pocetina, I was, I think, playing right back, but also like a right back, right wing back. So I was going forward already. And it just stayed like that, you know.

And now I'm even a little bit more higher up of the pitch. But, yeah, I feel like whatever the team needs, you know. And I'd like to play on this position as well, you know. I feel like I can do it in this team. And if the team needs me there, yeah, I'm able to play there, you know. Yeah, I can take a little bit more risk, you know, and that's what I like, because I can try some things. And if you lose the ball in front, that's what the coach always says as well. Like, if you lose it up front, you know, just try your things, and if you lose it, it's okay.

Then we press from there. But, you know, in the back, it's a little bit risky. And I understand that. I understand that. When you receive the ball and you're isolated 1V1 against the fullbacker, whoever the defender is, what goes through your head? Are you thinking? Or is that just pure instinct, pure, you know, the way you grew up, knowing what to do on the ball?

Yeah, whenever I get the ball and I have some space, you know, I'm thinking like, okay, now I'm going one-fee-one. You know, let me pass him. And then obviously I need to see the situation if he get somebody behind him who doubles up. So then it's more difficult to make an action. but it's just like, you know, I feel free, you know. I feel like, okay, now it doesn't matter. I can try. And if I lose it, I lose it.

If not, I do my thing, you know. And that makes it, yeah, it just gives me that freedom that I'm not thinking about what if I lose it. These moments remind me to me you're like a mixtape type of baller. Like you come from the generation that grew up watching the YouTube guys. like that's part of your spirit yeah yeah definitely definitely and even sometimes I'm still watching it because it just give you the joy entertainment and then I'm like yeah why why don't we do that you know just try you know and I mean all the tricks they

came into the world because they're effectively and they can fool some people so you know I feel like we should use them as well you seem like a big social media guy too how does like having that posting maybe highlight reels and clips like said that at your enjoyment yeah I feel like a lot of fans they they like it when I post it so you know they already after the game they start texting me like hey can't wait for your highlight clip and stuff so then I'm like yeah okay I will I will keep doing it you know because it is fun you know it's fun to see it back as well and even for the people who didn't have a chance to see it you know they can can see

some some things and I feel like it's fun for American fans too because because that's pretty common in American sports, right, in basketball and football, that kind of content about players. And obviously with this team, historically, not a lot of guys with your 1B1 ability. So it's cool to flex that, right? Yeah, yeah. It's nice, you know. If people like it, I will do it for sure. I feel like a lot also with all these influencers, streamers and stuff.

Like everybody, like the younger generations, they're watching a lot on social media. So sometimes they can't watch the game or whatever. but they can see your highlight clip or they can see you know the highlights of just the game in general and um everything goes goes through internet nowadays you know so it goes really quick and um yeah sometimes i don't use instagram sometimes i i put it now more on tictock like i wasn't a big fan of ticot before but i'm still not actually but yeah i just put it more on ticot now because i feel like it maybe fits the social media platform more to put the highlights there than always on Instagram.

Has it had negative aspects for you at all? For me, personally not. No, I didn't experience anything negatively. Is there a move or a dribble that you dream of pulling off? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes. Because I'm the type of guy, sometimes I'm just thinking whenever I'm just in my own space,

I'm just thinking like, okay, this is one of the tricks I actually should still do, you know, because it is, it's going to be amazing and nobody does it. But then I'm like, I'm already trying to create that situation in my head, like, okay, but on this side, I cannot do it on that side, yes, like, okay, the player has to play me the ball like this. And then it comes like intuition, but I feel like it's also kind of a little bit of muscle memory. So I'm thinking about it, and I tell sometimes my friend, hey, tell me before the game. So I just have the muscle memory and then it comes as an intuition.

within the game and especially now when I play more up front I can take more whistle if it goes well it's amazing if it doesn't okay then I press again it helps me have those early goals yeah yeah yeah for sure for sure better to play from the front yeah yeah yeah I feel like if there's gonna be a move named after an American you might give us a chance there right we have marijuana we have the yeah the right yeah the best what is the desk I mean at the moment I Obviously, I don't feel like it's my trick, but the Elastical nutmeg that I gave, yeah, like I gave it also against Australia and in the Champions League against Arsenal, I think maybe the people know me the most for that move at the moment. I don't know. There's a different sound the crowd makes when you pull it off.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You must live for that. Yeah, it's nice, it's nice. And yeah, obviously that is where you play for because when you were playing on streets or when you were younger and your friends were looking and you do a nice move and everybody's saying, oh, and the other guy feels embarrassed a little bit, that's what makes it fun, you know, because you've got to be sharp the next time because he's going to kick you probably. Yeah. Like Sanjay said, we don't always associate that with the U.S. men's national team. maybe like the culture is shifting now. I watch when I watch you guys do the, well, I think I'm as Rondos, but I just heard today, you call them boxes when you guys do at the start training.

You see the nutmeg? It's like, yeah, yeah, the vibe is just different. Yeah, everybody likes that, you know, because nobody wants to get the nutmeg. So you feel embarrassed and that's funny because somebody gets mad, you know. And that just gives some joy in the game. How does, around that topic, how is this team compared to maybe? the teams you played on in Europe or your club teams like it's the same um it's it's not the same i feel like we have way more intensity here and uh yeah obviously we play more as a team i feel like

the teamwork is uh is different um but yeah i played for example in barsa and and and and there the quality yeah was a little bit higher of course you know with uh with the randos and everything I feel like this quality of the US mass national team is higher in terms of intensity and teamwork. That was something that sees my attention in the first two matches. It wasn't just that you were winning the games, controlling the games. It was a little bit of like swagger, almost like teasing the opponent. Yeah, yeah, for sure, because we feel confident, you know. We feel we can win against anyone at the moment.

And that's why we need to win tomorrow as well to keep the momentum, because that's really important. obviously we are already first place they're already eliminated but we still want to set the tone you know because we want to give the other opponents the last memory of us winning a game and not of us just taking it easy you know so that's what we're going to do and hopefully we can continue that many more games this tournament switching gears a bit here can you tell us about between the end of the club season the start of the world cup you went to suriname to give back to the community. Tell us about that trip what that was like and what that means to you. Yeah, it means a lot to me, you know. I've done one of my street soccer fields in,

in Amsterdam. I've won, I've done the second one in Suriname and it felt really, I'm really proud of it, you know, to be able to give something back, especially in like a poor country, you know, and give the new generation's possibility. to also play on a modern like street soccer field, turf field. And we had the opening of it, you know. Everybody was really grateful, thankful. They liked it and they're playing on it a lot now. So I'm happy because I want to be able to kind of give a share to the world,

you know, like to help build my own legacy in that way. So I don't forget about the people who don't have a lot of things, you know. Have you always been very connected to that side of your heritage? A lot of people talk about, you know, the choice you made between the U.S. and the Netherlands, but obviously in the Netherlands, there's a lot of people, right, with connections to CERNM and... Yeah, I mean, let me put it this way. I've never thought about playing for the national team of Ciroir, you know. But, yeah, I feel welcomed over there, you know.

I have family over there as well, so for me, it's just, yeah, it also feels like home, you know? It also feels like home. And that's why I feel like the Netherlands, Suriname, and then U.S., I want to build one more pitch here in the U.S. But let's see where it will be. Miami? Maybe, maybe the East Coast or West. I don't know yet.

But, you know, hopefully I can get some help this time, you know. Because the other ones I paid by myself, and I'm happy to do that, you know. Obviously, it's not cheap. But it will be nice to maybe. collaborate or something you know in the future so along those lines i wondered i wondered if you watched the netherlands play this world cup or in general and how it is to watch that that part of your heritage yeah it's also always special when you see the netherlands play because you grew up there i played in some huge national teams you know the the the rounds before like the final round

and it just always stays as well like like home to me to be honest so So it's nice to see them. And they played, yeah, they played two pretty good games. But the focus at the moment is as to us. Do you think you would have fit into that group or you may be wired differently than a typical touch plate? I think I would be able to fit in, yes, for sure. Yeah, but yeah, I made my choice, you know. I'm happy to be here.

And I think we can come really far. become farther than them. In terms of a few fun ones to finish up, when you come to the U.S., Chris Richard said a while ago that you love the Panda Express orange chicken. Is that still a go-to? Yeah, that's still a go-to, you know? That's like quick food, you know, like fast food for me.

But I do it sometimes before games, because for me, I just, for example, if I don't like the food as much, I just need my fried rice, my chicken, and just carboloding, you know. And it's easy to eat, so I'm like, yeah, let me just eat that. A lot of calories, right? A lot of calories, but so is it with the burgers and stuff. I'd rather eat bender than burgers every time, you know, and fries.

So, yeah. And then I eat a bit white steamed rice, you know, so it's... Oh, okay, okay. You know, like, yeah, it's different. You still a big baguettes guy? Just in Europe, not in the States, man. The bread is not so good yet. Yeah, yeah, I got to be honest.

You get you a lower caliber, huh? I don't know, but the taste. You're going to try bagels on the East Coast when you guys play, especially in the New York area, hopefully in the future. Yeah, you think so? That's the go-to-bagels. The nutritionist is going to listen to this. No, we have bagels here.

They're okay if I toasted, but to be honest, like the normal bread and stuff, I don't like it. I don't like sourdough and all that, no. It's better on the East Coast than West Coast. Yeah? Is it? We have water. have our own little little regional preferences in this country so yeah philarin talked about uh getting to know

america in a different way this long camp and all this time here for a home world cup are you having an experience like that are you seeing maybe a different side of this country no i've been i've been too many times already to the u s so uh you know i've seen kind of almost everything but i like it you know i don't feel like i have to get home or get get back to europe no i like the experience I like this tournament, I like the guys, everybody. So it's just a good atmosphere, you know, and it's good weather, so that makes it even better. So it kind of feels like, you know, like focus, vacation for a couple of hours, and then focus again, you know. So it's nice, it's nice though. I like it.

Have you done any surfing? We heard some of the guys are surfing. No, I want to try it still, but maybe I should do it after the tournament. Don't want to get injured. Are you still a big zoo guy? Yes. Yes. I like the zoo. I like the zoo. Have you been able to check one out during this trip? And what are your any go-to zoos in the U.S. that you think? No, I haven't been to the zoo in the U.S. Maybe one I've been to in New York. But the one in Dubai, you can come closer to the animals, you know. So that's why I did it there. Yeah. I like to see the animals from close up just to, because it's interesting to me, you know, how they're built and stuff. I don't know. Yeah, I love the zoo too. Yeah, yeah. Well, I live in Washington, D.C.

We have the National Zoo there. So I hope you came from here. Okay, nice. It's pretty good. Where do you see it? Washington, D.C.? Yeah, yeah. The most famous thing is the pandas.

We have like a big arrangement with China. Okay. To have the baby pandas, like, are born there, and then they grow and then they send them, they fly them on a special plane to... Okay, nice, man. Standing invitation, I'm sure we would love to have it. All right, all right.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, thank you as well. Appreciate it.