U.S. Soccer, Gregg Berhalter add Gio Reyna to roster for games vs. Germany, Ghana
Gregg Berhalter and Gio Reyna may never be best friends. But Berhalter, coach of the men’s national soccer team, said Thursday that he and Reyna, one of his most talented midfielders, are ready to work together when the 23-player U.S. team begins gathering in Nashville next week for friendlies with Germany and Ghana.
“The idea is that we work together for the team to be successful. And I think we’re both prepared to do that,” Berhalter said. “Although it may take some time, we’re both aligned with what we want to accomplish.”
Berhalter and Reyna recently spoke for the first time since last fall’s World Cup, where Reyna’s poor attitude and lack of effort in training nearly led to his removal from the team. He played just 53 minutes in the USMNT’s four games in Qatar. After the tournament Berhalter, speaking at a leadership conference, referenced the incident without naming the player, touching off a feud with Reyna’s parents, who informed U.S. Soccer of a decades-old domestic violence incident involving Berhalter and the woman he would later marry. That briefly cost the coach his job as U.S. Soccer investigated, then cleared, Berhalter of any wrongdoing.
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Berhalter said he and Reyna, who is playing in Germany, talked by Zoom “weeks ago” but he declined to speak about the conversation in detail.
“The conversation was positive,” Berhalter said. “And really for us it’s about aligning on how we’re moving forward. The exact contents of the conversation, I’m going to leave private. But we’re in a good spot to prepare for this camp.”
Reyna, 20, played for the U.S. under interim coach B.J. Callaghan in the Nations League last summer but left the June final against Canada at halftime with a leg injury. He hasn’t played for club or country since, although he has resumed training with Borussia Dortmund. Berhalter said it’s uncertain how much Reyna will be able to play in matches with Germany on Oct. 14 in East Hartford, Conn., and with Ghana on Oct. 17 in Nashville.
“We’re going to be creative with the minutes [but] we want to certainly get him on the field,” he said.
Reyna is one of 13 players from the World Cup team who were called into camp but the roster is missing two big names in midfielder and captain Tyler Adams and defender Antonee Robinson, who combined to play all but one minute of the four U.S. games in Qatar. Adams recently suffered a significant setback in his return from a hamstring injury that has limited him to 21 minutes since March while Robinson is dealing with a groin injury.
Adams’ absence allowed Berhalter to call in dual national Lennard Maloney for the first time. Maloney, 23, a German American, plays for newly promoted Heidenheim in the German Bundesliga and is the only player on the October roster who has not played for the senior national team. The average age of the players on the roster is 24 years 59 days and they average 20 international caps overall. The players come from leagues in nine countries, five from the Bundesliga and five from Italy’s Serie A.
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The U.S., unbeaten in its last 13 games, shut out Uzbekistan and Oman last month in Berhalter’s first games as coach since the World Cup, raising his record to 39-11-12. Berhalter’s winning percentage is the best by a USMNT coach who has worked more than seven games.
The roster
Goalkeepers: Ethan Horvath (Nottingham Forest), Matt Turner (Nottingham Forest)
Defenders: Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven), DeJuan Jones (New England Revolution), Kristoffer Lund (Palermo), Tim Ream (Fulham), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Midfielders: Johnny Cardoso (Internacional), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo), Lennard Maloney (Heidenheim), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Yunus Musah (AC Milan), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven)
Forwards: Brenden Aaronson (Union Berlin), Folarin Balogun (Monaco), Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Tim Weah (Juventus)
