Gio Reyna shows his quality with the USMNT

Gio Reyna was twice left out of the USMNT roster after problems with head coach Gregg Berhalter at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The Borussia Dortmund player has since managed to earn the forgiveness of his country and has returned to action, playing in the friendly against Ghana.

Reyna only needed 45 minutes to make his mark with the national team. The exciting talent came into the match having only played 26 minutes for Borussia Dortmund this season due to injuries, but the American forward had the opportunity to vindicate himself with a team that always believed in him. And just 10 minutes into the game, he took advantage of a poor clearance by Opoku to open the scoring with an unstoppable volley and he added a second shortly before half-time.

Reyna’s good work was not just in the goalscoring department. He was a constant headache for Ghana and averaged a 97% pass completion rate as well as winning almost 60 per cent of his individual duels.

Putting problems with Berhalter behind him

Gone are the personal problems that were created between Reyna and Berhalter at the last World Cup. However, after the display against Ghana, Berhalter seems to have put it all behind him for the good of the team. “Gio’s aim was to play two 45-minute halves, just like Folarin (Balogun) did in the last camp,” said Berhalter.

“You want to guide him in the right direction, but a lot of that has to do with the player, the mentality of the player, and what I’ve seen from training session number one in this break was an extreme amount of concentration and skill. When he plays like that, like he has throughout this break, he’s definitely a guy who can help this group and it’s great to see him respond like that,” he added.