CHESTER, Pa. — It had been 503 days since Gio Reyna last started a game for the United States men's national team. It had been 602 days since he last scored for the USMNT. On a cold night outside Philadelphia, the American attacker ended both streaks in a 2-1 friendly victory against Paraguay.
It was a performance that marked a big step forward for Reyna in her chance to secure a spot on her second consecutive World Cup team. It's a goal that seemed incongruous heading into the match, given that Reyna has only played 147 minutes for Borussia Mönchengladbach all season.
But American coach Mauricio Pochettino told Reyna in training on Friday that he would be in the starting lineup, and it didn't take long for the midfielder to make his mark in this match.
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In the fourth minute, a fight in the goal after an American corner saw the ball fall to Max Arfsten, and his cross was headed in by Reyna. The American midfielder was also involved in the sequence that led to the American team's winning goal in the 75th minute, when his cross was deflected off Folarin Balogun, allowing the AS Monaco forward to score.
The USMNT's opening tally in the match was the ninth of Reyna's international career, putting him one ahead of his father Claudio on the USMNT's all-time scoring list and giving the younger Reyna some familiar bragging rights.
“Honestly, I had no idea,” Reyna said of meeting her father.
“To be honest, I didn't even know how many goals he had, so I was happy to score, happy to be back. I sent him a few text messages making fun of him after the game, but he was happy for me, so it's nice.”
Reyna had some problems that night. His inability to close down Paraguayan defender Júnior Alonso was the first domino to fall in the build-up to Paraguay's 10th-minute equalizer from Alex Arce. (Defenders Tim Ream and Miles Robinson also needed to drop faster and deeper on the play.)
However, those were rare for Reyna that night. He was busy at all times, throwing passes and connecting with his teammates. The 75 minutes he logged were his longest in a match since he played 77 minutes for Borussia Dortmund against TSG Hoffenheim on December 15, 2024.
Reyna's lack of minutes with Gladbach has been due to several factors. A thigh injury slowed his progress and he has also been trying to acclimatise to a new club. And while Reyna has long been a player who didn't need to have everything working at the club level to excel on the national team, he credited the support of the Gladbach staff for helping him achieve Saturday night's impressive performance. He said he has regained 85% of his fitness and hopes that will improve.
“Obviously I had a little injury that I was still recovering from in the last few weeks, but they have been fantastic in getting me ready to be fully fit and slowly getting there, as you can see tonight,” he said of his club.
“But yeah, I definitely hope that when I come back I start more games, but they've been great. So I think it's a big credit to them as well and how they pushed me and believed in me and pushed me back to be prepared to play on this stage.”
He added of his time at Gladbach: “I feel very, very good, valued, important, ready to play. So obviously, when you feel better mentally, you can definitely play better on the field as well.”
To be clear, Reyna has not cleared up all doubts about his position with the team going forward.
Think for a second about what had to happen to get Reyna on the field for this game. Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, Malik Tillman, Timothy Weah and Alejandro Zendejas – players who have played an attacking role in the past, or could do so in the future – missed the game due to injuries or, in McKennie's case, Pochettino's desire to leave McKennie in Italy while he tries to impress new Juventus manager Luciano Spalletti.
When those players return, Reyna will need to find a way to show Pochettino that he still deserves to be on the field.
There's also the rather significant fact that Reyna has yet to crack Gladbach's lineup on a consistent basis. Staying healthy is part of the trick to staying in the lineup, and Reyna hasn't shown in some time that she can do it. The performance against Paraguay alone cannot be considered a great advance. It has to be followed by another, and another, and another.
Reyna notices this. The time for the World Cup is only 208 days away. But he was presented with a rare opportunity to impress and he took it. Pochettino certainly noticed.
“[Reyna] “He confirmed that he is a player who needs to improve because he needs to play more for his club,” Pochettino said.
“But today we can see that he was great, scoring and assisting, in the way he always showed the ability to read the game and find the free space between the lines. I think [he] “It was a nightmare for Paraguay and I think they did a very good job.”
Reyna was not the only player to take advantage. In fact, the rest of this American team, which was missing enough players to almost field a separate starting lineup, did too. In the first half, the match became the kind of physical contest reminiscent of last year's 1-0 Copa América loss to Uruguay, which ultimately eliminated the United States from the tournament.
In that match, the celestial he slowly tore the United States to dust with ferocious physical play. On this occasion, it was the United States that exerted the pressure, both physical and technical, gradually putting pressure on Paraguay until The Albirroja Finally it withered.
Tanner Tessmann and Brenden Aaronson were instrumental in tilting the field more in favor of the USMNT. In the winning game, it was that relentless pressure, in this case from substitute Diego Luna, that initially caused the ball to come free to Balogun, who passed the ball to Reyna. The goal soon arrived, capping a night for Balogun in which he had to face some tough challenges just to produce at a critical moment.
For Ream, the key to how the United States finishes games goes back to how it starts them.
“I think it starts with being aggressive from the first whistle, and kind of just putting a score and making the other team understand that we're here to fight, we're here to play, we're here to win a game and we're not going to treat it like a friendly either,” Ream said.
That was evident in extra time when Paraguayan Gustavo Gómez and American defender Alex Freeman battled for the ball on what was called a U.S. throw-in, sparking a bench-clearing brawl. Incredibly, only a red card was shown to Paraguayan Omar Alderete, who did not even play in the match. But it was another example of how this American team doesn't back down from anyone.
“To be honest, they took some cheap shots from their end,” U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese said.
“But it's part of being a team, and we're going to stick up for each other no matter the moment, no matter the end of the game, the beginning of the game, in the middle of the game on the bench like that. That's what it means to be a team, and I don't think I've ever moved that fast to get there.”
The United States, undefeated in its last four games, continues to enjoy a wave of momentum. With each passing game, there is more cohesion and a greater understanding of what Pochettino wants. The American coach has made the American players feel comfortable being uncomfortable, and that is not going to change.
“Great credit, but it's not enough,” Pochettino said.
“We are happy. We need to keep going because we need to improve, improve, improve and get to the World Cup at our best, at our peak. And that shows that it's not about the name, it's about the team, it's about the collective, it's about the idea of the whole.”
Uruguay, a team with its own spirit of physicality and determination, combined with skill (0-0 draw against Mexico that same night), will be the next opponent on Tuesday. Reyna in particular feels ready to go and will be eager to prove that she is back for good.
