Sergiño Dest has been voted U.S. Soccer’s Young Male Player of the Year for 2019, the federation announced on Monday, a reflection of the Dutch-American fullback’s breakthrough campaign with Ajax, the US Under-20 national team and the full men’s national team squad.
Dest helped Tab Ramos’ U-20s reach the quarterfinals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in the spring, starting four of their five games at the tournament. He went on to impress the Ajax coaching staff during preseason and earn significant playing time for the Amsterdam giants, playing in 13 of their 15 Eredivisie games to date as well as eight of their 10 UEFA Champions League matches.
The attack-minded fullback then made a nearly seamless transition to the senior international level, receiving a call-up from Gregg Berhalter in September and making his USMNT debut in a friendly vs. Mexico.
After sitting out the October window to mull his future in light of an approach from the Netherlands national team, the dual-national Dest elected to stick with the United States and returned to the fold in November to help the Yanks win their final two Concacaf Nations League group-stage matches and qualify for the new tournament’s knockout phase.
“It's an amazing award to win and I'm very proud of this moment,” Dest said in a federation release. “I want to thank U.S. Soccer for the nomination, I also want to thank my family, my mom, my dad and everybody who has helped me along the way. Without them, I would not be at the level I am right now. This is a great experience for me, and I look forward to winning more team trophies with the US in the future. This is a really pleasant moment and it makes me feel valued.”
U.S. Soccer also announced that Brianna Pinto, a rising midfield star for the University of North Carolina and the women’s national teams, won Young Female Player of the Year honors and that Nick Mayhugh of the US Para 7-a-Side national team earned the Player of the Year with a Disability award.
Votes for Player of the Year awards are collected from national team coaches, national team players who earned a cap in 2019, US professional league head coaches and select media members as well as former players and administrators.
Players cannot win the Young Male or Young Female award more than once; these honors were first awarded in 1998, with Josh Wolff and Cindy Parlow winning the inaugural awards. The Disabled Player of the Year was launched in 2012, with Felici Schroeder the first honoree.
