Four years after World Cup drama, Gio Reyna gets another shot with Team USA - BERITAJA

Last week, Gio Reyna and his wife, Chloe, were sitting successful a parking lot, extracurricular a smoothie shop successful Connecticut, waiting to perceive if he’d made Team USA’s World Cup roster. They knew connection would beryllium coming from the coaching unit immoderate minute, but they wanted to beryllium alone.

Back astatine his wife’s family’s house, he said, “We knew location would beryllium immoderate nerves.” His parents were elsewhere, besides “waiting anxiously,” Reyna said. “Just for illustration I was.”

Soon enough, Reyna received notice: he’d made the roster. He called his parents to stock the news. “Just complete the moon,” he said, describing their reaction.Years ago, he was considered the adjacent awesome young American shot player, the boy of 2 erstwhile members of the men’s and women’s nationalist teams, Claudio and Danielle Reyna. He was only a teen erstwhile he went to train pinch Borussia Dortmund successful Germany. A young, attacking midfielder pinch preternatural touch, he could dribble done full defenses aliases create an advantage pinch a cleanable walk — skills that cannot precisely beryllium taught.

Giovanni Reyna pinch his jersey during the United States World Cup roster uncover connected Tuesday.Vincent Carchietta / USSF/Getty Images

But astatine the 2022 World Cup, Reyna didn’t play much. Questions swirled about his effort, his attitude, and deficiency of fitness. He seemed to beryllium successful coach Gregg Berhalter’s doghouse. Reyna had conscionable turned 20 years old. Eventually, the business devolved into a full-blown soap opera betwixt Reyna’s parents and the coach, who had known 1 different for decades.

Berhalter was fired 2 years later aft a mediocre capacity successful the Copa America and replaced by Mauricio Pochettino, an Argentinian who had managed world-class clubs Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. Now, Pochettino had chosen Reyna to beryllium among the 26 players he would return to the 2026 World Cup.

“Gio [has] astonishing talent and experience,” Pochettino said Tuesday astatine a news convention successful Manhattan announcing the roster. He added: “I really spot successful him.”

Minutes later, Reyna met pinch a horde of media to reply questions, alongside respective of his teammates. Reyna didn’t look to really want to excavate the 2022 World Cup.

Did he bespeak connected what happened? “Reflect? I guess,” he said. “It was a while ago. But yeah, it happened. It is what it is.”

Was he disappointed he didn’t play much successful 2022? “I mean, of course,” he said. “Everyone wants to play each infinitesimal of each game. But sometimes it doesn’t activity for illustration that.”

What did he study from that experience? How was he different now, 4 years later? “Uhh, not much, I guess,” he said. “It’s evidently successful the past.”

The past 4 years, Reyna’s nine profession hadn’t gone to plan, either. He hadn’t surgery into the starting lineup playing for Dortmund successful the Bundesliga, aliases during his 1 play playing for Nottingham Forest successful the Premier League, nor this season, his first playing for Borussia Mönchengladbach, a little prestigious Bundesliga team.

The U.S. Men's National Team's (USMNT) poses during the announcement of the USMNT 2026 World Cup roster successful New York, connected Tuesday. Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images

At times connected Tuesday, Reyna sounded humbled by it all. “This clip around, I’m conscionable consenting to do immoderate it takes,” Reyna said. “Whatever’s called for by me, I’ll beryllium consenting to help.” He repeated that he wanted “to thief the squad successful immoderate measurement possible.”

Reyna suggested that the whole team had grown up since the past World Cup, and that acquisition would beryllium 1 of the team’s strengths. “There’s truthful galore players who person developed,” he said. “It’s really competitive. A batch of guys are adjacent to, aliases in, their primes. We’re each older. We’ve matured arsenic group and arsenic players.”

Pochettino made nary nationalist promises to Reyna: “I don’t opportunity that he is going to play the game,” Pochettino said. “But he could help. He could thief because he’s a different player, different talent. And I deliberation successful each the roster, you request to person a subordinate for illustration him.”

At 1 point, a newsman asked Reyna to picture the quality betwixt Berhalter and Pochettino. “You’re putting maine connected the spot present a small bit,” Reyna said.

“They person a batch of the aforesaid qualities,” Reyna continued. “It’s conscionable … possibly a small spot much of the South American, possibly a small spot looser civilization [now]. Where Gregg had a fewer much rules. But I don’t know. They’re some demanding. Both gave a batch of state to the players. But astatine the extremity of the day, you request to train, you request to prepare, you request to play. And if you did those things well, past some coaches gave you state to bask disconnected the pitch.”

Pochettino said he trusted Reyna, and that was not mislaid connected the 23-year-old.

“It intends a lot; I can’t convey him enough,” Reyna said. “At the extremity of the day, I want to repay him connected the transportation and thief this squad beryllium successful.”