Multiple sources close to the US Men’s National Team provide details athletic Attacker Gio Reyna World Cup.
The source, who requested anonymity because she’s not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said Reina showed a surprising lack of effort in training ahead of the US tournament’s opening match. wales 21 November, including scrimmage against Qatar Club Al Gharafa SC on 17 November. Reina’s lack of intensity in scrimmage — sources said Reina was roaming around on the field the entire time despite an otherwise intense session — caused considerable frustration within the team. His lack of effort was so obvious that it was unclear whether Reyna was protecting himself from injury or was simply frustrated that he was not ready as a starter against Wales.
The drama surrounding Reyna crescendoed during the Welsh match, throwing shin guards after Reyna was unsubbed, and then attending a post-Welsh training session where Reyna’s lack of effort continued again. A veteran player now speaks to Reyna. Deandre Yedlin When Aaron Longhe pulled him aside and urged him to show more effort to move forward.
Sources say the situation became unacceptable and had to be dealt with multiple times, including by the coaching staff, but Reina eventually stood up before the video session and apologized to her teammates for the lack of intensity at the outset. and said he understood. He was part of a collective group. After Reina’s apology, several players on the team talked Reina into taking responsibility for his actions. Believing it could be overcome, Reina, 20, turned the corner regarding her training efforts.
U.S. coach Greg Berhalter appeared to refer to Reyna’s situation at the HOW Institute for Society’s Moral Leadership Summit in New York last Tuesday, but the player’s name was I commented that I didn’t. It was featured in the Charterworks newsletter this week. (Update: A US Soccer spokesperson said the summit Burhalter attended was supposed to be “obviously off the record.”)
“In this last World Cup, we had players who were clearly not living up to expectations on and off the field,” said Verhalter. “He was one of 26 players, so it stood out. As staff, we sat together for hours trying to figure out what to do with this player. I was able to do it, but how extreme it was, I ended up having another conversation with him and part of the conversation was how we were going to proceed. No violations.
“But the other thing we said to him was that you have to apologize to the group, but you have to say why you apologized. ‘I’m sorry guys.’ You’ll have to dig deeper than that. And I have prepared a leadership group with this. I said, “OK, this guy is going to apologize to you as a group, to the whole team.” Please, it wasn’t good enough.You haven’t lived up to our expectations of your teammates.We want to see a change.They have really taken ownership of that process. And since that day, this player has had no problems.
“The best way to deal with things as a coach is to come back to your values because it’s hard to send players home. But he didn’t live up to the standards of the group, so we were ready to do it.The group was ready to do that as well.
Multiple attempts to reach Reyna’s agents were not immediately successful.
Some of Reyna’s issues leaked to the public during the tournament after she did not play against Wales.
Burhalter used the first four sub-subs, with the USA leading the match 1-0, then opted to bring in the winger Jordan Morris for Tim Ware After Wales equalized in the 82nd minute. After the game, Verhalter explained his decision to choose Morris over Reyna, saying, “At the stage of the game we were in, I went with Jordan, who I felt would give me something with speed and power.”He noted that the team did a “last minute check” on Reyna, deemed him “OK” and said he England America’s second group stage match.
Asked to clarify the purpose of the last-minute check, Verhalter said he “knew he was a little nervous” during his scrimmage against Al-Gharafa a few days ago and said the team “made him up” and “We think he can play a big role in this tournament — the question is when, hopefully on Friday[against England]he’ll be one step ahead.
A few minutes later, Reina told reporters in the mixed zone that he was perfectly healthy.
“I felt good and ready,” Reina said. “But it was just his decision.”
On the day of England’s game, former United States international forward Eric Wynalda discussed Reina’s lack of playing time in a Twitter Spaces with Los Angeles Times columnist Dylan Hernandez. Winalda claimed there was “infighting” within the team over Verhalter’s decision not to play Reina. He also claimed that Burhalter lied to the media when he told reporters after the Welsh game that he had kept Reina out of that game because of an injury. Claudio was a former U.S. captain, childhood friend of Burhalter, and teammate at multiple World Cups.
“Now Gio Reina is out of the lineup and there is a huge controversy within the team. “It appears to be an internal conflict with Burhalter,” Wynalda said. “I don’t know how much to comment on that, but I’ve been trying to console Gio’s father, Claudio, for the last few hours, no, the last few days, with everything that’s been going on. Berhalter lied to the media and said it was an injury.I asked the player to agree with the story.There was a rift between the two.It’s a shame.The situation is in a very different way. should have been handled by
Wynalda slightly retracted his first comment In a tweet posted on his account the day after his first comment.
Burhalter was not asked about Wynalda’s allegations at the press conference before and after the England game, but clarified that it was a “coach’s decision” not to play Reyna against Wales. We played against each other. Berhalter then Iran Whether there was some kind of rift between him and Gio Reyna, and whether he lied to the media, as Winalda claimed, and told reporters that Reyna was injured after the Welsh match. please.
“Speaking of a four-year journey, yes, I’ve had four years of interaction with you[the press]. And I mean, I’ll leave it to you to decide if I asked Geo to lie It’s not who I am. It’s not what I stand for. I know what happened.Like everyone else, Gio is a member of this team and we care deeply and know we can help. The question is when can he help us and how he can help us.”
Shortly after that reaction, Wynalda further retracted his initial statement on his SiriusXM show.
During a counter attack, @Eric Wynalda clarified a comment he made #USMNT Head coach Greg Verhalter on Twitter @Latimes.
listen to the entire conversation with @KeithCostigan here – pic.twitter.com/9J2DQK2mIK
— SiriusXM FC 157 ⚽️📻 (@SiriusXMFC) November 28, 2022
Reyna did not play Iran on November 29th.
“I think a lot of it comes down to timing and circumstances,” Berhalter said. Netherlands in round 16. It was the only game that didn’t have that scenario, and I actually put him in and helped him win. So that’s how you can use him in the most effective way. A really talented player and we are looking for the right moment. But he can definitely help the team. ”
Burhalter used Reina more heavily in the United States’ loss to the Netherlands on December 3rd. Borussia Dortmund In the second half, he turned on the attacker and shifted to the wing when inserting the center forward Haji WrightReyna failed to make a significant impact in the contest, finishing her first World Cup after a total of 52 minutes of play as the United States were eliminated after scoring just three goals in four games.
Reina score for Dortmund Bucharest’s ‘Christmas Cup’ in a shortened 60-minute friendly against Rapid Bucharest, the fourth-placed team in the Romanian Superliga on Saturday.
(Photo: Brad Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images; Design: Eamonn Dalton)
