Reyna’s Dream Turns Into Paraguay’s Nightmare, But Can He Keep It Up?

CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA – NOVEMBER 15: Gio Reyna #7 and teammate Brenden Aaronson #11 of United States celebrate a first half goal by Reyna during a friendly match against Paraguay at Subaru Park on November 15, 2025 in Chester, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

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One game can rarely define a player but it certainly can help him or her put things …. in the right direction. A good performance can start to erase questions and doubts.

Case in point:

Gio Reyna.

With Christian Pulisic, the super-duper star of the team sitting back in Milan, Italy recovering from a recent injury, the likes of Weston McKennie and Tim Weah not on the team, the USA needed someone to put his best foot forward. Well, Reyna did, with his head and foot.

Making his first appearance for the U.S. Men’s National Team in 16 months, Reyna realized his potential in the Americans’ 2-1 friendly win over Paraguay on Saturday night. He lifted the hosts into the lead with a header in the fourth minute and set up the winning goal by Folarin Balogun in the 71st minute.

‘A nightmare for Paraguay’

Head coach Mauricio Pochettino, who decided to call Reyna into camp, certainly liked what he saw.

“He did a very good job” Pochettino said. “So happy with him. He showed why he starred, and he has confirmed that he’s a player that needs to improve, because he needs to play more in his club. But we can see today that he was great score and assist and in the way that always the capacity to read the game and find the free space in between the lines. I think he was a nightmare for Paraguay, and I think he did a very good job.”

The key word in the above paragraph was nightmare.

That’s how much skill he has.

The Borussia Moenchengladbach midfielder celebrated his 23rd birthday on Thursday by scoring his ninth international goal in his 33rd appearance, which surpassed his dad, Claudio Reyna, on the USMNT’s all-time goal-scoring list.

Reyna struck barely four minutes after the opening kickoff, head home Max Arfsten’s right-wing cross past goalie Orlando Gill from the top of the goalkeeper’s box.

When TNT commentator and former USMNT player DaMarcus Beasley asked Reyna if he had a comment, the midfielder diplomatically replied, “Love, you dad,” showing much maturity off the field.

Praise from Balogun

On the field, Reyna demonstrated that he doesn’t have to put the ball into the back of the net to be productive, as he did with Balogun to snap a 1-1 deadlock.

“Gio wanted to come into camp and do his thing, wanted to put the noise behind him, and I felt like he did that,” Balogun was quoted by Yahoo.com. “It was a really strong performance in a difficult game.”

Born into national team royalty

Big things have always been expected from Reyna, who hails from U.S. national team royalty.

His father Claudio was on the roster of four World Cup teams, scoring eight goals in 112 appearances. His mother, the former Danielle Egan, was a pretty damn good player herself, helping women’s powerhouse University of North Carolina to several NCAA Division I titles and performing six times for the U.S. women’s national team, scoring once.

At the age of 17, Reyna produced a number of amazing feats for Borussia Dortmund, such as recording three assists in one match.

The 2022 World Cup scandal

But then came injuries, being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and then the scandal that rocked the U.S. Soccer world, when his parents complained to some bigwigs at the U.S. Soccer Federation about his lack of playing time under head coach Gregg Berhalter at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The Reyna family got a black eye for the incident, which delayed the U.S. Soccer Federation from rehiring Berhalter.

By 2024, the rift was in the past, and Berhalter called Reyna in for the Concacaf Nations League and Copa America. Berhalter subsequently was fired after an abysmal first-round elimination in the latter competition.

Reyna should be getting into his prime right now. The prime years for attacking players domestically and internationally usually are 23 to 30 or 31. The likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are aberrations and then some.

The past few years have not been kind to Reyna, who has been plagued by a variety of injuries that have slowed his progress and kept him on the sidelines, and some coaches who could not find a spot for him when he has been healthy.

That has been the key for Reyna: staying healthy and fit.

When he is, he can be one of the most, if not the most dangerous player on the field.

Let’s go back to Saturday night’s match at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa.

The secret to his success?

The secret to his success

“Just play with my instincts,” he said.

“That’s what the coaches tell me the last few days, the last week,” he added on the TNT postgame show. “And not just myself, but the group around me has made it so easy. We’ve had a great week of training. I think we showed it today. It was really good performance. So, a few things to clean up. But overall, I think it was great for myself and for the rest of the team. So, it was great night.”

Everything seems so good, and Reyna and the U.S. should feel good about themselves.

But it is only one game.

The Americans will have another challenge when they meet Uruguay in Tampa, Fla. on Tuesday night. It might be considered a friendly, but with only the March international window remaining before Pochettino will pick his team for the 2026 World Cup, there isn’t much time for any player to convince him and the coaching staff that they belong on the squad.

Gio Reyna’s next challenge

That includes Gio Reyna, who faces another huge challenge:

Convincing Borussia Moenchengladbach interim head coach Eugen Polanski and his staff that he belongs in the lineup on a regular basis, so he can aid club and then country. Reyna joined the Bundesliga team in the off season.

If Reyna doesn’t get more playing time in the Bundesliga, it could damage his chances of making the U.S. team.

It would be a shame to see all that potential and talent go to waste, especially when you look at what he accomplished on Saturday night.

Michael Lewis has been selected by the United Soccer Coaches as the sixth recipient of the Clay Berling Media Career of Excellence Award. Lewis, who will be honored at the organization’s convention in January, can be followed on X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky at @soccerwriter.