MOENCHENGLADBACH, Germany (AP) — Gio Reyna entered the 2022 World Cup as one of America’s brightest young soccer stars. Controversies over his training efforts and family conflicts with the team’s coach at the time clouded his performance.
Next year’s World Cup, to be held on American soil, will be a guiding light for the 22-year-old Reyna as he attempts to revive an injury-plagued career.
Reyna said he would deal with the 2022 incident differently “a certain way” and that while his actions stemmed from frustration, the controversy was “completely” not his or his family’s fault.
Speaking to The Associated Press from his new club Borussia Mönchengladbach last week, the attacking midfielder said he hopes to use this season to convince U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino that he still belongs.
“Of course, I think about it (the World Cup) quite often because it’s where I need to be and where I want to be,” he said. “But I try to focus here every day, stay here, work here every day, and I believe that hopefully everything will work out.”
Frustration in Qatar 2022
In Qatar 2022, Reina played just twice off the bench. Then-U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said after the tournament that the unnamed player, later identified as Reyna, I almost got sent home It’s because I didn’t put enough effort into my training.
Reyna’s parents, Claudio and Daniel Reyna, both former national team players, lobbied the U.S. Soccer Federation to increase Gio’s playing time and contacted the USSF about a 30-year-old domestic violence allegation involving a woman who was a former college roommate of Berhalter and Daniel, who later became his wife.
Asked if she would do anything differently if she had another chance, Reyna told The Associated Press: “In some ways, yes, but I’m not going to sit here and take all the blame for something that seemed to be completely my fault. I believe it’s not, and I also have my family to blame.”
Reyna added that the tension arose from dissatisfaction with match time.
“At the end of the day, I was just angry that I wasn’t really playing. I was playing for Dortmund. I wanted to play in the World Cup, but in the end I didn’t make it. That’s really what caused it,” he said.
“I think the frustration and disappointment was that I just wanted to play and help my country. That was and is a long time ago, so I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
long road home
Reyna hopes that Gladbach will serve as a stepping stone for his return to the national team. Participating there with his friend and American teammate Joe Scully was “the cherry on top”.
Reina’s momentum has stopped due to repeated muscle injuries. He was an impact substitute during his last three years at Dortmund, before being loaned out to Nottingham Forest and sitting on the bench for much of last season.
Reyna last played 90 minutes in a league game in March 2022 and has played once for the U.S. national team since the 2024 Copa America. Due to fitness issues, he has only featured in four of Gladbach’s eight Bundesliga games so far.
Reyna said that even though he came off the bench at Gladbach, he was “still better than what I was doing for most of last season.” There are only four friendly matches scheduled for the United States before the World Cup training camp, but Reyna’s main chance to do well is against Gladbach.
“I think Pochettino said very clearly: ‘You need to play and perform, and if you do that you have a good chance of getting back in,'” he said. “It’s all up to me now.”
Dortmund are known for developing talented young players, but Reyna now believes they should have moved “a little earlier” to get more game time. “I had a good feeling when I made the decision to stay there. It just didn’t work out.”
What we learn from injury
Reyna has suffered at least eight apparent injuries over the past five years. Most of the injuries were soft tissue and muscle problems, including one broken leg.
His role is limited due to fitness issues Gladbach struggle in the Bundesliga.
“I learned a lot about my body,” Reyna said. That means treating your fitness work as a dialogue with your club’s athletic coach and finding new ways to deal with the mental strain of further setbacks.
“The first 24 to 48 hours are always the worst. There’s no way around it,” he says. “What I’ve learned now is that after a day or two where you’ve obviously had a lot of pain, a lot of downtime, low energy, you just have to get on with it. You’ve got to kick on and really work on your rehab.”
Reyna said he is taking on more responsibility on and off the field in order to reach his full potential as a player.
“I want to look back in the future and say these past few years have been pivotal,” he said. “But there’s no real meaning in just talking. You have to turn what you say into action.”
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