USMNT’s Shocking Loss to Panama Highlights Need for Sergiño Dest and Antonee Robinson

The inexcusable 1-0 loss at home to Panama in the 2025 CONCACAF Nations League Finals illustrated a few things for the United States Men’s National Team.

Chief among them include the glaring absences of Sergino Dest and Antonee Robinson.

The attack for Mauricio Pochettino’s team on Thursday evening was toothless, to say the least. The lack of creativity may have stemmed from the unavailability of Ricardo Pepi, Folarin Balogun, and Malik Tillman. There’s even a realistic world in which Pepi and Balogun bury the chances MLS striker Patrick Agyemang fumbled in the second half.

That aside, systemically there were some major issues.

Dest and Robinson have to be healthy for this team to do anything of consequence next summer. While Joe Scally put in a solid shift, he’s not the game-changing type of talent to aid the attack. He’s more of a stay-at-home option — and admittedly has developed into a very solid one. As a bench option, one could do a lot worse than the Bundesliga veteran. The depth at both outside back spots appears to be paper-thin within the pool — especially when Yunus Musah was positioned as the team’s right back despite being far more equipped as a central midfielder or even as a winger.

There was a glaring lack of width in the Panama match. Dest and Robinson are not identical players — though they each bring qualities the team sorely needed.

Robinson is one of the fastest players in the world. He bombs up the flank often adding support to the attack with overlapping runs. He also gives the USMNT some real width — and also space for central players to operate when pushed up the pitch.

If Robinson is a thoroughbred in transition, Dest is one of those super-skilled point guards that will break your ankles off the dribble. He’s not shy in taking players on in space. His technical ability is tremendous, and his ability to beat players in one-on-one situations often leads to some dangerous chances for the attack. Playing in more of an inverted role, Dest truly is another attacker on the pitch.

It’s paramount both come back ASAP for this team to not only cultivate a identity under Pochettino, but also to maximize the upside it has.