BVB success in Mainz: Gio Reyna’s emotional settlement – politics

Anyone who wants to fathom the drama of the young footballer Gio Reyna, from the very bottom to the very top, must look at his pictures: from Wednesday evening in Mainz, from his triumphant run after the winning goal in the 94th minute – and next to that the tearful heap of misery from that Nine months ago, when the same young man, injured again, slipped off the pitch with slumped shoulders. And in between the Hollywood mud fight between Reyna’s parents and US national coach Gregg Berhalter around the World Cup. What a roller coaster!

On Wednesday evening, however, you could see the most exuberant Reyna they have met at Borussia Dortmund. The offensive substitute pushed the ball over the line after a corner and a header from striker Sebastien Haller, who arrived just as late. And then the 20-year-old American exploded, whose unpredictability and unconventional movement sequences are reminiscent of the much more famous Thomas Müller from Munich. Everything obviously had to finally come out, like in the winter sale of emotions: 2-1 for Dortmund. final whistle.

Three days earlier, Reyna, who came on just as late, had already scored the 4:3 winning goal for BVB against Augsburg in a wild game, with a dropkick that no instructional video could have shown better. In summary, Dortmund coach Edin Terzic can thank Reyna for four points – for two wins instead of two draws.

With his jubilation, Reyna seemed to shout at the Mainz audience all the frustration he had built up in the months before – although the Mainzers just happened to offer him the stage for emotional reckoning. They had nothing to do with Reyna’s history: the long injuries (especially on the thigh), the tormenting of old fitness. Another setback, more one-offs, another comeback, not quite ready to travel to the World Cup in Qatar – and there Reyna was greeted by his national coach with the announcement that he would probably not play a major role in the tournament. Which then also happened, with previously unknown background noises.

Everyone likes Giovanni Reyna – at least in Dortmund

“With us,” emphasized his club coach Terzic, “he was never guilty of anything.” BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl had already said as a precaution after Reyna’s return from the US camp in Qatar: “Gio is a very good boy. We never had any reason to doubt him. He goes into every training session and every game with great motivation. “

Reyna herself avoids interviews. Even on Wednesday evening in Mainz, when he had the excess adrenaline halfway out of his bloodstream, there wasn’t much to elicit from him: “Everyone has difficult times in life,” he said, “football helps me get out of it. I want to work and help my team.” That was the kind Reyna, whom they have known in Dortmund since the summer of 2019. Reyna has only played for two clubs in his life, New York City FC – and Borussia.

At the beginning, at 16, he was a junior player there, but Reyna quickly became the favorite player of the BVB coaches. Whether Lucien Favre, Edin Terzic, Marco Rose, the young American was always Everybody’s Darling, everyone raved about him. He is the prototype of the over-talented academy player, with family roots in the USA, Argentina and Portugal (of which Gio is also a citizen), with a birthplace in England and a footballing home in Germany.

However, Reyna has not yet taken the final step in development. Something always came up, for example Erling Haaland or Jude Bellingham, who outshined everything at BVB. And when everything finally went reasonably well for Reyna, the soap opera that his parents, the American Football Association and its coach Berhalter performed around Qatar came.

Reyna’s parents are influential in US soccer. Father Claudio, once a professional in Wolfsburg and Leverkusen and later at ManCity, played for the USA at four World Cups. Gio’s mother, Danielle Reyna-Egan, was also a US international. When Berhalter, once Papa Reyna’s teammate, classified Gio, who had been injured for a long time in 2022, as more or less unfit for the World Cup, the Reynas apparently sounded the alarm. Your son is considered by many to be the best American footballer, but always in the status of an unfulfilled promise.

Berhalter finally complained that the player lacked attitude, allegedly Reyna was about to be sent home from the training camp. The mud fight was on. Reyna’s mom was so furious that she dug up a nearly 30-year-old criminal case against Berhalter. As a young man, the former defense attorney had a complaint about abuse because of domestic violence against his wife, to whom Berhalter is still married today – insider knowledge that the Reynas had from the old days together. Berhalter stood in the pillory. However, it is doubtful whether the family war will help son Gio.

In Mainz, Reyna has now started to become a real authority. BVB was again not convincing. At 2-1, to which Mainz’s Jae-sung Lee and Julian Ryerson had contributed the first two goals very early on, Borussia lacked a clear concept. In the end, however, the team with the better individual players triumphed. One of them was Reyna.

source site