U.S. men’s national team head coach Gregg Berhalter said Gio Reyna felt “tightness” ahead of Monday’s World Cup opener against Wales on Monday.
The USMNT opened the World Cup with a 1-1 draw against Wales in a game that was the proverbial tale of two halves.
After Tim Weah gave a rampant U.S. the lead in the first half, Gareth Bale’s late penalty earned a resurgent Wales a point at Al-Rayyan Stadium.
Late in the match as the USMNT searched for a winner, Berhalter somewhat surprisingly brought on Jordan Morris, not Reyna, in place of Weah.
In his post-game press conference, Berhalter gave a somewhat contradictory rationale on why Morris was the choice and Reyna did not feature in the game.
“In the phase of the game we were at, we went with Jordan who we felt could give us speed and power,” Berhalter said on his decision.
But he also added that Reyna, who has struggled with muscle injuries over the past year but has been fit for more than a month, had experienced some discomfort during Wednesday’s training exercise against Qatari side Al-Gharafa SC.
“It was trying to get him up to speed. There was some tightness we were guarding against,” Berhalter said.
Berhalter added that he felt Reyna would be ready for Friday’s game against England.
For his part, Reyna insisted that he is at full speed, though he did acknowledge to reporters in the mixed zone that he had felt “a little bit of tightness over the last few days.”
“I feel great. I feel really good. I feel ready to go,” he said. “I felt ready to go but it was just [Berhalter’s] decision.”
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