Nigeria born America international George Bello has been drafted in as replacement following injury to Sergino Dest ahead of USMNT CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers.
Bello, 20, has made six appearances for the United States. After signing as a homegrown player with Atlanta United in 2017, he joined Bundesliga club Arminia Bielefeld at the end of January, making five appearances to date.
The announcement comes after Barcelona confirmed that Dest had suffered a hamstring injury in their Europa League win over Galatasaray on Thursday.
“Happy for the win yesterday but really disappointed to come off with a hamstring injury,” Dest tweeted Friday. “I’ll be working hard to come back as soon as possible.”
The U.S. are scheduled to take on fierce rivals Mexico at the Estadio Azteca on March 24 before hosting Panama (March 27) and traveling to Costa Rica (March 30) to round out their Octagonal campaign.
After 11 of the 14 rounds of games, the U.S. (21 points) sits in second place in the standings, level on points with third-placed Mexico and four points ahead of fourth-placed Panama.
The top three teams will qualify automatically for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with the fourth-placed team facing an intercontinental playoff.
Dest has been a mainstay of late for the U.S., starting in six qualifiers during this cycle.
The injury also rules him out of Sunday’s Clasico matchup for Barcelona against.
Bello Born in Abuja, Nigeria, moved with his family to Douglasville, Georgia, when he was a year old.During his early career, he played for Southern Soccer Academy, a youth soccer club affiliated with English club Chelsea, and the Alpharetta Ambush, where he played for five years.
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While playing at Alpharetta Ambush, he played with future Atlanta United academy teammate Zyen Jones.
After spending five years with the Alpharetta Ambush, Bello moved to the academy side at Atlanta United FC, a new expansion club for Major League Soccer. His former coach, Tony Annan, now at Atlanta United as their academy director, was the one to reach out to Bello to join his side.
A former junior international On July 17, 2021, he was named by head coach Gregg Berhalter into the 23-man squad for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He started in two matches for the United States as they made it into the final against Mexico.
Bello was named as a starter for the match and played 65 minutes as the United States won 1–0 after extra-time.
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