USMNT loses at Trinidad, but still qualifies for Nations League semis and Copa América

The U.S. men’s soccer team lost 2-1 at Trinidad & Tobago on Monday in the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals, but won the series on aggregate 4-2. That advanced the Americans to the Nations League final four in March, and to next summer’s Copa América.

But the biggest talking point of the night wasn’t any of that. It was Sergiño Dest’s stunning red card in the 39th minute after earning two yellow cards for petulance.

Referee Walter López whistled for the ball going out of bounds on the right flank as Dest chased it down, and the ball might not have actually gone out. Dest protested by kicking the ball into the stands, which is an automatic booking. Dest had a few choice words for López as teammates Gio Reyna and Yunus Musah came over to pull Dest away.

Amid those efforts, Dest blew a mock kiss at López, which drew the second yellow. Veteran captain Tim Ream arrived right afterward, gave Dest an earful over his indiscipline, and as Dest finally walked off, goalkeeper Matt Turner had a few more words to offer.

» READ MORE: The USMNT labored to a 3-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago in the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal opener

As soon as he could, Berhalter subbed out Reyna for Joe Scally so he could keep a four-player back line. And within a minute of that change, Alvin Jones set Reon More free to shoot past Turner and score.

Dest will miss the Nations League semifinal in March at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

One can only wonder, as Hall of Famers DaMarcus Beasley and Julie Foudy did at halftime of TNT’s TV broadcast, what more Dest’s teammates said to him in the U.S. locker room at halftime.

“I think words with him would be putting it nicely, to be completely honest with you,” Ream said after the game. He later added that he felt “disappointment ... It’s a complete lack of respect for the guys that are playing, for the guys that are on the bench, a feeling of lack of respect for the game itself, for the referees.”

Antonee Robinson scored the Americans’ goal with a stooping-low header to meet a Sergiño Dest cross in the 25th. Robinson celebrated by sticking the ball under his shirt and sucking his thumb, the universal celebration of a baby being on the way. It will be his family’s second child.

» READ MORE: Ricardo Pepi’s latest goal is a reminder of his talent, and the USMNT’s striker depth

Trinidad took the lead in the game with a Jones long-range free kick in the 57th minute, won after Aaronson fouled Andre Rampersad.

Berhalter made two other substitutions in the game, Tillman for Ricardo Pepi in the 64th and Lennard Maloney for Luca de la Torre in injury time.

Pepi and Folarin Balogun had started up top together in Berhalter’s second straight rollout of a 4-2-2-2 formation. Aaronson and Reyna were the attacking midfielders, and Musah and de la Torre were the defensive midfielders.

Alas, thanks to Dest’s moment of madness, we’ll never know how the formation would have fared over 90 minutes.

“It is concerning, because that’s not what we want to represent, that’s not who we are as a group,” U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter said. “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 Sergiño.”

Berhalter said Dest apologized to the group, and told his teammates it wouldn’t happen again. Dest later posted a public apology on Instagram.

» READ MORE: Brenden and Paxten Aaronson celebrate being on the USMNT together for the first time

“As a team, the players, the staff, we need to hold him accountable, because it’s inexcusable, it really is,” Berhalter continued. “We were very firm with our words after the game. He put a number of guys in jeopardy, made a number of guys do a lot of extra work in this weather, and it’s inexcusable.”

But he was pretty quick to say the incident won’t be held against Dest for too long.

“Serge has done a great job of maturing and growing over the years that he’s been with the group, and for him, this has to be a learning experience — it will be a learning experience,” Berhalter said. “You know how we work: we give people second chances, we work with people, we help them overcome instances like this. So we’ll do the same with Sergiño. He’s a talented player, an important part of our team, and we need to have good conversations with him to make sure we get him on the right track.”

Robinson concurred.

“We are a pretty forgiving group,” he said. “We understand that we’re a young group, people can make mistakes, and it’s just a big mistake. ... The only thing I think Sergiño can do is hold his hand up, hold himself accountable, and when he’s inevitably called upon again to be a part of this group, he’s got to show — with not just words, saying sorry, but show with his actions — that we can trust him to be someone we can rely on, on and off the pitch, and be professional.”

Since Dest’s red card will put him out of the Nations League semis, could that keep the 23-year-old right back off the U.S. roster for the final four altogether? It was fair to wonder, and Berhalter knew it. But it was a few questions into his remarks, and by that time, he’d said all he was going to.

“I’ve been asked three or four questions about Sergiño already, and what I don’t want this to turn into is a witch hunt,” Berhalter said. “He’s a young player, he’s a fantastic part of this team, he’s going to learn, he’s going to grow. He made a dumb mistake, he knows that he apologized to the team, and we move forward.”