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IRVINE — Sergiño Dest will see a familiar face Wednesday when the U.S. plays Bosnia-Herzegovina in Santa Clara.
Dest is a club teammate of Bosnian forward Esmir Bajraktarevic at PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands.
Dest, a dual citizen of the U.S. and the Netherlands, opted to play for the U.S. Dest was born and raised in the Netherlands to a Dutch mother and a Surinamese American father.
In spite of his Dutch roots and upbringing, he committed his international career to the USMNT in 2019.
Conversely, Bajraktarevic is a Wisconsin native whose parents are Bosnian refugees who fled to the U.S.
He previously played for the USMNT at the youth/friendly levels before officially switching his allegiance to represent his native Bosnia in the 2026 World Cup.
Dest said he hadn’t spoken to Bajraktarevic in the lead-up to the game.
Sergiño Dest is pictured during the USMNT’s June 19 match. Getty Images
Esmir Bajraktarevic (20) fights for possession during Bosnia’s June 24 match. AP Photo“He is a good player, a technical player,’’ Dest said. “He also had to make the choice between the U.S. and Bosnia. He chose the other side, but hopefully he [will] regret it after Wednesday.
“I didn’t call him or text him yet about this game, and to be honest I don’t think I will until Wednesday. After the game we can talk. We’ll see what happens on Wednesday. Our focus is big.”
With Wednesday’s Round of 32 match against Bosnia looming, there was some talk Sunday at U.S. training about what this team learned from the 2022 team that was eliminated in the first match by the Netherlands.
“I think we’re a different team right now,” said Dest, one of 13 players on the current roster who were on the ’22 squad. “We’ve improved a lot in the last couple of years, and I think we showed it in the first couple of games. We’re all a little bit older. We’ve got a lot more experienced players at the moment and we have better chemistry and we’re in a better headspace.“We also have some new players, but I feel like everybody’s really confident. It helps if you win the first two games and finish first in the group. Everybody is so confident. That’s our advantage.”
The U.S. players were back on the field in a full training session Sunday for the first time since they lost to Turkey 3-2 Thursday night in the final Group D match.
The players went through some regen exercises Friday and were completely off Saturday to spend time with their families.
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Folarin Balogun, the striker who has two goals in this World Cup, said Saturday was “just to reset, just to relax,” adding, “We have the opportunity today to switch our mindset and focus on the game Wednesday. It’s good to rest and recover, and then today is when we kind of switch our attention.”
When asked about playing the game against Bosnia versus playing the occasion, Balogun said, “I find it pretty easy just to not get caught up in the occasion. It’s another game — and it is an important game — but it’s something I personally enjoy.’’
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