Two upcoming games for the U.S. men’s national team, and we’re going to see a familiar face come back into the mix.
Midfielder Gio Reyna, who was part of the 2022 World Cup squad but has struggled at both club and country since, was one of the surprise call-ups for USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino’s roster. It’ll be the first time Reyna (son of former USMNT star Claudio Reyna) will be back with the team since a disastrous window back in March in which the U.S. lost to Panama and Canada in the Nations League competition.
Plenty of reaction on Reyna’s return – including from our very own Alexi Lalas, host of the “Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union” podcast.
Surprising? Yeah. Deserving? Well, that remains to be seen.
FOX Soccer analyst and former U.S. men’s team player Stu Holden certainly thinks Reyna has plenty to prove in the two tough friendlies against Paraguay (Nov. 15) and Uruguay (Nov. 18), with both those teams having qualified for the 2026 World Cup.
“He is not being gifted this opportunity because he is Gio Reyna and the name. He is a good player. We know a player with undeniable talent. He is also playing at a big club,” Holden said as he filled in for Lalas on Thursday’s “State of the Union” episode.
“He’s not the first person that’s been called when he is not playing every single week a lot of minutes for his club.”
Why all the fuss about Reyna being on this team? He is only 22 years old, and he did get a move to German Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach after a prolonged saga at Borussia Dortmund. But rumblings and persistent reports of attitude issues stemming from those March games have seemingly put him out of favor with Pochettino.
And it’s not like he’s been shining at Gladbach. He’s only played 130 minutes with no goals or assists so far this season. And there will always be that whole saga with his family and ex-U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter from 2022 that you can catch up on.
So is this call-up for Reyna a last-chance saloon of sorts?
“This is not Gio Reyna’s last chance from a playing perspective, but absolutely his last chance from a culture and team perspective,” Holden added. “The big point of emphasis from Pochettino was about building a team. A team that cared, and a team that had identity and that team that was together.”
With other top USMNT players like Christian Pulisic, Tim Weah and Weston McKennie not on this roster, then Reyna has a huge chance to get back in the good graces of Pochettino and possibly work his way back onto the roster when it truly matters – at the 2026 World Cup. But it’ll take more than just solid play on the field to work toward that.
“If Gio cannot show over the course of the next 10 days when he is in camp, over those two games, not necessarily what he just does on the field but what he does off the field and how he fits in. Does he have a good attitude? Is he a good teammate? How is he with the coaching staff?
“Gio has to show that he can fit into that team, and that he can not just fit in but can add significant value on and off the field.”
