'I finally feel free' - The long road of ACL recovery behind him, USMNT's Sergino Dest is determined to remind everyone of his skills, and meet the moment at the World Cup

For Dest, the hardest part wasn't the pain. It was the uncertainty. The former lasted just a few seconds, at least in the moment. The latter? Too a degree, it lingers to this day.

On April 20, while training with PSV, Dest felt the pain. It lasted just 10 or 15 seconds, he recalls. There was an initial shock, but then relaxation. It wasn't unusual to him, he said. It didn't feel more or less painful than any of the other countless knocks he'd suffered throughout his career on the soccer field.

"I thought, after three or four days, I'd be good again," Dest said. "Then, the doctors and officials were like, 'Nah, that's not gonna happen.' It felt so secretive, and I hate that. I hate it when the doctors aren't sure or they don't want to say what they think it is. Just tell me! I want to know!

"Then, they told me the outcome, and it was nine months out. Now, I can finally understand what that meant. Nine months is a long time and, in the end, it wasn't even enough. I needed almost 12."

Throughout that lost year, Dest watched as the world went on without him. PSV won the title, capping off a season that he had been such a big part of. The club, despite his injury, signed him permanently in a show of faith that he would get back to his best. Meanwhile, the USMNT plunged into chaos. The Copa America went off the rails, Gregg Berhalter was fired, Mauricio Pochettino was brought in and a new era began - all as Dest watched from his couch.

He finally returned on the club level in the spring and was actually able to play a vital role for PSV down the stretch. With Dest's return providing a much-needed lift, PSV stormed back to win the Eredivisie in the season's final weeks, capping the season by making it back-to-back league crowns.

"I was so happy that it went like that," he says. "Not with the team, but the outside world, it feels like you will be forgotten quickly, especially when you don't play for a while. It's like, 'He WAS so good' but they're not looking at you anymore, just the players playing currently. That's something I noticed and it was strange for me."

Dest, though, wasn't the player he had been until just recently. Down the stretch with PSV, he was still playing with training wheels, unable to really run in the way he wanted. He was also dealing with another issue, as a previously unannounced hamstring injury prevented him from really taking off. It's part of the reason why he, ultimately, was left off the Gold Cup roster this summer after initially joining the USMNT in Chicago ahead of the tournament.

"I never expected to get injured like that but, in the end, I accepted it," he says. "Then, even when I was back with the national team, I got sent home again because I wasn't strong enough. That was so disappointing because I wanted to play. But I had to admit that I wasn't ready at that time. It would have been dangerous for me to play or to reinjure myself after that, so I got it. I was just so motivated.

"I honestly didn't start feeling like myself until a couple of days ago... within the last three or four days, I don't feel it anymore. I finally feel free."

That freedom has restored his confidence, and that confidence has translated into huge early-season performances.

"It feels, I guess you could say, nostalgic."

That's Dest on dribbling, the thing that might just bring him the most joy in life. The good news is that, if that's true, there's been a lot of joy recently because Dest sure has done a lot of it.

Through PSV's first five games of the season, four in the league and one Supercup, Dest has been impossible to handle. Against Go Ahead Eagles, he scored a late winner while leading all players in chances created. He scored again a week later in the Eredivisie season opener against Sparta Rotterdam.

Then, against FC Twente, Dest was determined to embarrass everyone in his path, dribbling past seven opponents while also winning the most duels of any player on the field. Then there was the assist against Groningen, too. The Eredivisie has largely been Dest's playground. That's how he likes it.

"Whenever I have the ball and I go up against these guys, I know I'm going past you and then I'm going past you, too," he says. "I feel confident. Everyone can defend me, sure, but I'm going to go by them anyway. I love those moments. It reminds me of being a kid. It reminds me of those YouTube videos of my idols. Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Robinho, Neymar, Adriano - the Brazilian squad. Those were my favorite players, those skill players.

"I feel like passing a player is the most beautiful thing you can do in this sport. To do that with flair, that's what everyone enjoys watching."

So much of that is physical. Pace, technique, timing, movement - all things that Dest had to rebuild if he wanted to experience that joy again. He might argue, though, that the most important work of his time off went into reshaping his mindset and how he used it to rebuild his body.

When you're injured, all you have is time. It's one of the things professional athletes, in particular, struggle with. They go from a life that is regimented and controlled to one with - beyond rehab - seemingly nothing to do. 

"I just had a lot of friends come over to chill," Dest said of his recovery. "I played a lot of PlayStation because I couldn't really walk. COD Zombies, FIFA, Spider-Man, GTA, everything. Face-timing with people was big, too. Once I was able to walk again, I was training every day. I'd go to the training center every day, then go home and watch movies. I went to Barcelona because I have a house there, and I spent five weeks there just training."

He approach was to embrace the reality, and make the most of the circumstances.

"I got some new hobbies," he said. "Normally, you wouldn't have time to do things, so it is nice to sometimes make your vision bigger and take advantage of what the world has to offer. I'm not glad it happened, but I had to accept it. You just have to be able to accept things. You cannot change it anymore. All I could really do was look forward. All you can do is try to enjoy life, but in a different way."

That applies to his professional pathway, too. Dest began to rethink his career, wondering what he could have done differently. Nothing, of course, could have prevented his ACL from tearing. What he could do, though, is change his approach to the game so that, when he did return, the situation - and his control of it - might be different.

"What can I do differently now? What am I lacking?," he said. "The thing I could have always done better was consistency. It was a long road, and I did a lot of stuff, but, at the moment, I'm really consistent in what I do. I'm doing extra training, and I'm really consistent with it. I feel like I'm seeing progression, from preseason to now. I'm getting there. 

"I feel like I still need to build some more power, and that's what I'm going to do. I feel like, six months from now, after the winter break, I will really be ready. I will be so, so strong."

The timeline, then, aligns with what's to come. With a World Cup around the corner, Dest is ready to meet the moment.

During his time in Qatar, Dest could often be found on the rooftop of the team hotel. People around him would be drinking, celebrating, and watching games. Dest, meanwhile, was there to watch. He was also there to breathe. No phone in hand, not too many pictures, just memories.

"I was just living in that moment," Dest says. "I would just sit there, drink my water, and watch these people enjoy life. They'd have flags and stuff, watching games, and I remember being like, 'This is it.' I just enjoyed that moment so much. I wanted to see everything and enjoy everything. I was living the dream. I had a big room with a balcony and, in the afternoon, you could just open the window and hear the sound of life. That's what I miss most about it."

Next summer, of course, will be different. A World Cup across North America will be vastly different than the one in Qatar, but the feeling remains. There's nothing like a World Cup. Dest knows that, having now lived through one.

Heading towards this one, Dest is more important than ever for the USMNT. Throughout his absence, the USMNT has never quite been able to replicate what Dest brings. They've been able to plug that hole at right-back, but never replicate it. It's why his return seemingly comes at the perfect time.

With a few camps still on the calendar, there's still breathing room between now and the World Cup as the U.S. looks to reintegrate one of its most important players. That process is the one Dest has been dreaming about all this time. From the moment that ACL went pop in April 2024, Dest has been focused on what is now suddenly ahead of him.

He was once blessed, and then cursed, with seemingly infinite time. Now, it is starting to run out on the road to 2026. The fullback, of course, is confident, no doubt about that. This all may not have happened for a reason, but it has still prepared him in some ways. The belief never wavered and, having navigated this, it probably never will.

That's Sergino Dest.

"I'm just really happy to be back," he says. "It's nice to be able to play and show my qualities because, last time they saw me, I wasn't fit. It's so different when you're not even able to really stabilize on one leg. In these training sessions, I think I've shown what I can do. I'll show them even more in the games, too. Everyone knows how much talent I have and everyone knows how much I can do for this team. 

"I think everyone's happy I'm back. Same for me, man. Same for me."