Gio Reyna became one of the biggest mysteries of the USMNT’s FIFA World Cup play this season.
USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter benched Reyna during the World Cup, playing him only sparingly, claiming that the 20-year-old attacker was injured. Reyna said he was totally healthy and ready to go. Former USMNT star Eric Wynalda even claimed that Berhalter had lied about his reason for benching Reyna.
Monday brought a report by The Athletic that Reyna showed a lack of effort in training prior to the USMNT’s opening match of the World Cup. The report also claims Reyna, who did not play in the opening match against Wales, reacted by throwing his shin guards and giving a “lackadaisical effort” in a training session after that match.
In an Instagram post on Monday (shared on Twitter via Tactical Manager), Reyna tackled the controversy, admitting he was disappointed in his lack of playing time, and that he apologized to his teammates. But he said he is “disappointed there is continuing coverage of this matter (as well as some highly fictionalized versions of events) and extremely surprised that anyone on the U.S. men’s team’s staff would contribute to it.
“Coach Berhalter has always said that issues that arise within the team will stay “in house” so we can focus on team unity and progress.”
Reyna wasn’t just referring to USMNT “sources” leaking information to The Athletic. Berhalter himself appeared to reference Reyna while speaking at an event on Dec. 6 in New York. The coach, who thought he was speaking off the record, noted (via the New York Post) “In this last World Cup, we had a player that was clearly not meeting expectations on and off the field. … We were ready to book a plane ticket home, that’s how extreme it was.”
Berhalter was no stranger to controversy himself during the tournament, coming under fire from fans upset with his management of the USMNT.