Among the many unanswered questions stemming from the Berhalter-Reyna saga, the one most relevant to American soccer’s future revolves around a 20-year-old whose interpretation of his parents’ behavior and the investigation that brought it to light is entirely unclear.
Nobody knows how Gio Reyna, arguably the most talented soccer player this country has ever produced, currently feels about the scandal that engulfed the US men’s national team’s World Cup aftermath.
We, the public, do not know how he has processed the villainization of his father and mother; we do not know what feelings he might harbor towards USMNT and US Soccer leadership, past and present and interim.
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So it was notable that, amid assurances from US Soccer’s side that none of this will affect Gio’s standing with the team, he accepted a call-up this week ahead of the USMNT’s first two competitive games since Qatar.
Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tim Ream and nine other European-based World Cup veterans did as well. Zack Steffen, Ricardo Pepi, Daryl Dike and Miles Robinson are back. Taylor Booth, Auston Trusty and the recently committed Alejandro Zendejas could make their competitive debuts.
But Reyna, of course, was the most notable name on a 24-man roster released Wednesday for CONCACAF Nations League matches later this month against Grenada and El Salvador.
Since his 53 World Cup minutes and intense disappointment, Reyna has admitted “that I let my emotions get the best of me” in Qatar, specifically after being informed that his on-field role at the tournament would be limited. But in that same statement, posted to Instagram a week after the USMNT’s elimination, as an anonymously sourced report and comments from Gregg Berhalter circulated, he took issue with the “highly fictionalized versions of events” that had been portrayed. He also wrote that he was “extremely surprised that anyone on the US men’s team staff would contribute to” the ongoing coverage — an implicit reference to Berhalter, who believed his comments were off the record.
The following month, with drama swirling around his parents, Gio roared back into form with his club team, Borussia Dortmund. He scored a world-class winner in Dortmund’s first game back from the Bundesliga’s World Cup break. He celebrated defiantly, with a “shush” and a chattering motion and two fingers in his ears. He scored a second consecutive winner three days later.
But throughout the winter, especially as his Dortmund playing time all but disappeared in February, uncertainty lingered around his USMNT future.
Anthony Hudson, a former Berhalter assistant and now the interim US boss, visited Gio in Germany last month and sought to quell that uncertainty. “He is a talented, important player, a young player, and it needs to be addressed,” Hudson told The Athletic. He said the meeting “went well.” He noted that Reyna responded positively when confronted about his lack of effort in Qatar. “Beyond that, I don’t see Gio’s involvement in anything,” he said, referring to the rift and investigation involving his parents and coach.
US players have also tried to put the issue to bed. Tim Ream, speaking on a podcast in December, called it a “non-story.” Walker Zimmerman noted in January that Reyna is among the USMNT players in a fantasy football group chat, and said he’s had contact with both Reyna and Berhalter since Qatar. “It’s not an issue for us to keep in touch with them. We’re friends. We’re close. It’s a non-issue for us,” Zimmerman said.
Hudson stressed that “the other stuff” — the helicopter parenting and meddling; the vague threats made by Gio’s parents, Claudio and Danielle; the allegation that brought Berhalter’s 1992 assault of his now-wife into the public eye — “is separate from the kid, from the player.”
He reiterated that on Wednesday. Two days after US Soccer released an investigative report that likely tarnished Claudio’s and Danielle’s reputations permanently, and that included detailed descriptions from now-former sporting director Earnie Stewart of Gio’s World Cup “mop[ing]” — and two days after US Soccer said in a statement that Berhalter, whose contract expired on Dec. 31, remains a candidate to reclaim his job long-term — Hudson said in a news release that, “as far as we’re concerned , Gio is a part of our program. He’s a good guy and a top talent and he is evaluated like any other player.”
So Gio, like 23 other players, will report to Orlando for a brief training camp next week. The USMNT will then fly to Grenada for a Friday, March 24 match (8 pm ET, TNT/Universo/Peacock), before returning to Florida for its CONCACAF Nations League group finale against El Salvador on March 27 (7:30 pm ET, TNT/Universo/Peacock). The US only needs to avoid defeat in both games to qualify for June’s Nations League finals.
Below is the full roster. The most notable absentee, captain Tyler Adams, sustained a hamstring injury in training at his club, Leeds United, this week.
USMNT’s March roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Luton Town), Zack Steffen (Middlesbrough), Matt Turner (Arsenal)
DEFENDERS (8): Sergiño Dest (AC Milan), Mark McKenzie (Genk), Tim Ream (Fulham), Bryan Reynolds (Westerlo), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Auston Trusty (Birmingham City )
MIDFIELDERS (6): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds), Johnny Cardoso (Internacional), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo/ESP), Weston McKennie (Leeds), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Alan Soñora (Juárez)
FORWARDS (7): Taylor Booth (Utrecht), Daryl Dike (West Brom), Ricardo Pepi (Groningen), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Tim Weah (Lille), Alejandro Zendejas (Club América)