So much of the talk about Gio Reyna and the U.S. men’s national team has focused on off-field issues.
On it? He may well have just delivered a signature performance for the USMNT.
Reyna was stellar as the USMNT confidently defeated Canada 2-0 in the CONCACAF Nations League final, getting the assist on both goals before leaving at halftime with an injury.
The assists were the deserved end product on a day where Reyna was borderline unstoppable. He finished the match with three key passes, eight duels, a successful tackle, and an expected assists total of 0.63 (significantly ahead of any other player on either team).
For U.S. interim coach B.J. Callaghan, that’s the standard the USMNT expects the Borussia Dortmund man to meet.
“Specifically Gio’s performance tonight, is a performance that you expect,” Callaghan told reporters after the match. “It shows his quality that’s on the field, his ball security, his ability to take on two or three players and connect passes.”
One stated reason that Reyna didn’t see as much playing time at the World Cup — a choice from Gregg Berhalter that set off a domino effect involving scandal, disgrace, and a protracted coach hiring process that ended right back where U.S. Soccer started — was that he didn’t offer the defensive effort and cover the team needed.
Per Callaghan, this Nations League window saw Reyna step up on that front in a big way.
“What I’m really proud of him [about], is we’ve challenged Gio to do more work off the ball on the defensive side,” explained Callaghan. “He’s absolutely risen to the occasion.”
Reyna injury status unclear
All that said, Reyna left the match in some clear pain after a tackle just before halftime. Luca de la Torre replaced him during the break. While Reyna was able to cheer the USMNT on from the bench as the half wore on, he was moving very gingerly even with a brace.
Callaghan said that while he had a general sense of what the problem was, the severity remained unclear.
“The only thing I know currently at [this] time, is that it’s a calf injury,” said Callaghan. “I don’t know the severity of it. We haven’t had an opportunity to do a full [evaluation].”
Callaghan chuckled at the idea of how the team’s celebrations were delaying that examination, but added that he was sure Reyna wouldn’t have come off if he could keep going.
“I can tell you that he would be someone that wants to be on the field,” said the USMNT coach. “For him to come off the field, it must be something because he’s not wanting to want to come off. But I don’t have specifics regarding it, I can just tell you that it’s a calf.”
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