Irvine (United States) (AFP) – US soccer star Gio Reyna on Tuesday said he has put the controversy of the 2022 World Cup behind him and is solely focused on helping the co-hosts succeed this summer. Four years ago, the United States midfielder was almost sent home from Qatar after a bust-up with then-coach Gregg Berhalter, in a lurid row that spiraled to include Reyna’s family and a historic assault allegation.
But Reyna was included in new coach Mauricio Pochettino’s squad for the USA campaign that begins Friday against Paraguay. And while headlines about the incident continue to dog Reyna, he said performing well to help the team was more important than rewriting his personal narrative. “It doesn’t matter to me anymore. I want to score a goal to help this team win… That’s really it,” Reyna told AFP.
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The controversy erupted in Doha four years ago when it emerged after the tournament that Reyna had almost been kicked out of the camp by Berhalter over his attitude in training. That in turn led to Reyna’s mother — former US women’s team international Danielle Reyna — informing US Soccer of a physical altercation in 1991 between Berhalter and his then-girlfriend, and now wife. The coach was cleared after a probe by the federation.
Reyna told reporters last month that he has “matured” since those days, noting that the entire squad is more experienced. The US had fielded the 2022 World Cup’s second-youngest roster. “I think last World Cup, maybe we’re all just a little bit young. I think it’s normal to struggle in certain big moments like we did last tournament with most of the team being 23 or younger,” he said. “So yeah, I think the biggest strength now is everyone is just four years older and has matured as players and as people. So these little details will help us in the long run.”
Aside from the controversy, Reyna’s inclusion for this year’s tournament surprised some pundits, given his lack of recent game time for German club side Borussia Moenchengladbach. Reyna has made only eight appearances in the Bundesliga since the turn of the year, all as a substitute. But the 23-year-old remains one of the most technically gifted attacking players available to Pochettino as the Argentine coach prepares for a Group D that also includes Australia and Turkey.
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