Conflict with BVB star Gio Reyna
US coach Gregg Berhalter forgets bizarre “blackmail”
October 14, 2023, 11:39 a.m
Despite a rough history: US national coach Gregg Berhalter is again relying on Giovanni Reyna from Borussia Dortmund with a view to the World Cup in his own country. This is not a given – the conflict surrounding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar almost cost the coach his job.
Gregg Berhalter clearly doesn’t hold grudges, even if he has every reason to. After all, he had been unemployed for six months because a bizarre and reputation-damaging dispute with Giovanni Reyna’s parents temporarily cost him his job as the USA’s national soccer coach. Only the independent investigation into a long-cleared incident from 1991, in which he had actually kicked his current wife, led to Berhalter’s reinstatement in June.
Forget everything? As the former Bundesliga professional, his squad for the international matches against Germany in Hartford (9 p.m. CEST/RTL and in the live ticker on ntv.de) and four days later against Ghana in Nashville, Reyna was definitely there. And a few days ago, Berhalter reported, they also spoke in private. “Our intentions are positive,” said the 50-year-old, “we both want to work together so that the team is successful and we are ready to do so.”
Given the history, this was not necessarily to be expected. When it became known after the World Cup in Qatar that Berhalter had almost sent the demonstratively listless Reyna home, his parents stepped into the picture. Mother Danielle denounced Berhalter to the US association. It was about a case from the current couple’s student days, Berhalter and Reyna: In 1991, Berhalter kicked his current wife Rosalind while drunk, and Danielle Reyna even claims that he “beat the shit” out of her.
Berhalter first loses his job…
Berhalter’s contract was initially not extended by the US association, but the investigation led to a completely different result than the Reynas had expected. Berhalter and his wife had long since dealt with the incident with professional help, and it also emerged that Reyna’s father Claudio, once a Bundesliga professional in Wolfsburg and Leverkusen, had been putting the US association under massive pressure since 2016. Above all, he constantly attacked coaches and those in charge when his son allegedly didn’t play enough.
So it’s no wonder that Berhalter now said that “it takes time” to repair the relationship, at least with Giovanni Reyna. In terms of sport, the midfielder is hardly up for discussion. He proved how important Reyna can be for the US national team in June, when the USA won the CONCACAF Nations League thanks to his direction. The interim coach at this time was BJ Callaghan. Berhalter only took over after the Gold Cup in July, for which Reyna was injured.
… and then returns
If Reyna is fit and in shape, he will of course be nominated, Berhalter assured. The fact that, after six months of uncertainty, he will now remain coach of the USA until the 2026 World Cup is thanks not least to influential players. Former Dortmund player Christian Pulisic in particular campaigned more or less directly for Berhalter to be entrusted with the task again.
With a view to building a team for the home World Cup, Berhalter has called up numerous players for the upcoming international matches who had or have connections to Germany. Because no players from clubs from the North American Major League Soccer were nominated due to the play-offs just beginning, Lennard Maloney from newly promoted Bundesliga club 1. FC Heidenheim is in the squad for the first time.