As he nears his return to the sideline as U.S. men’s national team head coach, Gregg Berhalter has admitted that he has yet to speak with Gio Reyna.
After six months away from the team following the expiry of his contract, Berhalter was reappointed USMNT head coach in June.
Berhalter’s return came after a tumultuous period that began when he unwittingly revealed that he nearly sent Reyna home from the World Cup in Qatar.
What followed was one of the biggest scandals in U.S. Soccer history. Reyna’s parents Claudio and Danielle, formerly close friends of Berhalter and his wife Rosalind, attempted to oust Berhalter from his job by telling U.S. Soccer about a 1992 domestic violence between Berhalter and Rosalind, then his girlfriend.
But after an independent investigation found that the Berhalters were forthcoming about the details of the incident, U.S. Soccer said Berhalter was eligible to be a candidate for his former post.
Berhalter will return to the sideline next month, as the USMNT hosts friendlies against Uzbekistan on September 9 and Oman on September 12.
But in an interview with Vanity Fair, Berhaler said that although he’s “had calls with almost every player,” there is one notable exception: Reyna.
“It’s not something where you just pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey bud, here’s how it’s going to be,’” Berhalter said. “There is work to be done.”
As he’s navigated a tricky situation, Berhalter said that he’s consulted with experts in the field of mediation.
Reyna only just returned to training with Borussia Dortmund as he continues to battle a calf injury, and he may not be healthy enough to be called in for the Uzbekistan and Oman matches. If the forward stays healthy, a return for October friendlies against Germany and Ghana may be more likely.
Whenever Reyna returns to the team, Berhalter is eager to repair his relationship with a player who is likely to be key to any success the USMNT has in the future.
“We both want the U.S. to win the World Cup and be very successful,” Berhalter said of Reyna, “and now it’s figuring out a way to cooperate to do that.”
Berhalter added: “Some of it will involve him, some of it will involve us, and eventually, hopefully, it leads towards Gio being comfortable in the team, comfortable that he’s being evaluated fairly and coached fairly and held to the same norms and standards as everybody else.”
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