The United States men’s national team needs all the help they can get after failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. On Thursday, they received great news regarding a promising midfielder.
Giovanni Reyna will follow in the footsteps of his father, Claudio, and his mother, Danielle Egan, by playing for the United States in international competition. The attacking midfielder was promoted to the Borussia Dortmund senior team over the winter break and has appeared in every match in three different competitions since the move went through.
The debate for months had been which country Gio will choose to represent since he has so many options. He could have chosen Argentina because of his father’s family, Portugal because he has a Portuguese passport, England because he was born in Sunderland, or the U.S.
“It’s very clear for me: I will only play for the United States, that’s my home,” Reyna told the German press.
Having already appeared for the U.S. under-15, 16 and 17 teams, Reyna has some quality experience within the system and was an integral part of the U-17 team that finished runner-up at the CONCACAF Championship in 2019.
The decision comes as a huge relief to USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter who will most likely call up the midfielder for the international break in a week or so to face Holland and Wales.
This alone proves that Gio made the right decision in choosing the USMNT because he will already be playing international matches at only 19. That is incredibly rare in this day and age with so many football federations having youth academies and teams.
More importantly, American soccer fans finally have young, promising players that are with big European teams that are ready to help make the team at least somewhat relevant in the world landscape.
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Reyna’s skillset couples nicely with Christian Pulisic and the two are considered by many to be the future of the national team. Throw in Timothy Weah at striker – if he can stay healthy – and other young midfielders like Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams to play with Reyna in the midfield, and the team actually looks pretty formidable.
There are so many American internationals in the Bundesliga at the moment – Josh Sargent, McKennie, Adams, John Brooks, and Reyna – it has become the spot for the U.S. to develop its talent.
If Reyna turns out to be anything like Pulisic – Giovanni broke Chrisitan’s record as the youngest American to debut in the Bundesliga and became the youngest goalscorer in the German cup – the future of American soccer is blindingly bright.
Dortmund manager Lucien Favre has taken a liking to Giovanni Reyna and the attacking midfielder should continue to see regular minutes in the league and the Champions League.