USMNT’s Gio Reyna scores half-volley on Borussia Dortmund return

Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reyna made an instant impact on his return to domestic team action this weekend as he smashed home a fierce half-volley from the edge of the box.

The 20-year-old got USMNT fans excited ahead of the World Cup following his performances in Germany but he played a very limited role for his country in Qatar.

Reports emerged Sunday night that Reyna is the unidentified star USA head coach Gregg Berhalter almost sent home from the tournament.

Reyna is back with his domestic team after playing a bit-part role with the USMNT in Qatar 

The attacker played just 52 minutes as the USMNT crashed out at the Round of 16 stage, losing 3-1 to Holland.

USA fans were furious with Reyna’s omission throughout the competition while former USA defender Alexi Lalas questioned why Berhalter left him out of every starting XI.

Reyna was back in domestic team action Saturday as Dortmund participated in the Winter International Cup and faced Rapid Bucharest, followed by Fiorentina. 

Reyna reacts after USA lost 3-1 to Holland to crash out of the World Cup at the last-16 stage

Claudio Reyna’s son needed little time outside the box before striking a sweet half-volley with his right foot to win the opening game 2-1. 

The ball sat up nicely for the strike after he lifted it into space, away from an opponent and he connected well with his laces to leave the goalkeeper with no chance. 

Berhalter, who came under scrutiny for leaving Reyna out, has claimed he nearly sent an unnamed player home from the World Cup.

‘In this last World Cup, we had a player that was clearly not meeting expectations on and off the field. One of 26 players, so it stood out. As a staff, we sat together for hours deliberating what we were going to do with this player,’ he said at a Charter leadership briefing.

Reports emerged that Reyna is the unidentified star Gregg Berhalter almost sent home

‘We were ready to book a plane ticket home, that’s how extreme it was. And what it came down to was, we’re going to have one more conversation with him, and part of the conversation was how we’re going to behave from here out. There aren’t going to be any more infractions.

‘But the other thing we said to him was, you’re going to have to apologize to the group, but it’s going to have to say why you’re apologizing. It’s going to have to go deeper than just “Guys, I’m sorry.” And I prepped the leadership group with this. 

‘I said, “Okay, this guy’s going to apologize to you as a group, to the whole team.” And what was fantastic in this whole thing is that after he apologized, they stood up one by one and said, “Listen, it hasn’t been good enough, You haven’t been meeting our expectations of a teammate and we want to see change.” 

‘They really took ownership of that process. And from that day on there were no issues with this player.’