Gio Reyna Named to USMNT Concacaf Nations League Squad

Giovanni Reyna, Borussia Dortmund’s 18-year-old breakout winger, has been rewarded for his solid season in the Bundesliga with a call up to the U.S. Men’s National Team. He’s been named to the 23-man squad for the Concacaf Nations League, of which the semifinals and finals will take place in early June. America’s first match is against Honduras on June 3rd, and assuming the U.S. can advance, the final will be played on Sunday, June 6th against the winner of the other leg of the semifinal between Mexico and Costa Rica.

Gio Reyna’s season can more or less be divided into three parts. He got off to a torrid start in the Bundesliga and looked like he was going to easily surpass the standard set by Christian Pulisic, the last young American to rise through BVB’s ranks. The hype surrounding Gio reached its peak following his three-assist performance against Freiburg. Unfortunately, as the season wore on and Gio logged more and more minutes, his production dried up, leading some, including myself, to suspect that he was fatigued and in serious need of rest.

Fortunately, in the final months of the season, Gio seemed to have pulled himself out of his funk, and was able to contribute to BVB’s success, ending the season with four goals and five assists in just under 2,000 minutes in the Bundesliga, a very respectable scoring tally for such a young player. He fully deserves his call up for the USMNT, and we wish him well representing the United States.