The World Cup is disappointing for Giovanni Reyna – he only plays a little in the US team and is then harshly criticized after leaving. His club Borussia Dortmund is now opposing the allegations made by national coach Gregg Berhalter of the 20-year-old.
Borussia Dortmund’s sports director Sebastian Kehl clearly backed his player in the discussions about BVB professional Giovanni Reyna being almost thrown out of the US team during the World Cup in Qatar. “The content of the reporting on Gio Reyna has surprised us a lot in the last few days,” said Kehl. He enjoys the “total support”.
“He’s had a really difficult time with several injuries. We’ve known the boy for many years, even though he’s only 20. We experience him as a good guy who works professionally and is a valued teammate in the dressing room,” said the sporting director : “The fact that after a few days in Qatar this is now being fundamentally questioned is incomprehensible for us at BVB and does not do Gio Reyna justice.” In Dortmund they are already looking forward to “having Gio back with us from the beginning of January and being able to attack together with him”.
Reyna herself had previously been “extremely surprised” and disappointed that apparently internal information from the US national team had become public. “At that last World Cup, we had a player who clearly didn’t live up to expectations on and off the pitch. As staff, we sat together for hours thinking about what to do with that player. We were ready to book a plane ticket home It was that extreme,” said US coach Gregg Berhalter, without naming the player.
Reyna admitted he let his emotions rule him for a few days after Berhalter offered him limited playing time ahead of the World Cup. This also influenced his training performance and behavior. “I apologized to my team-mates and my coach and I was forgiven.”