Gio Reyna gets another chance for the World Cup, with no assumptions made about his role on the US national team

Gio Reyna was sitting in the car with his wife at a popular smoothie shop when the email appeared and the celebrations began. Four years ago he would have known the call was coming. Well, on Friday afternoon, around 1 p.m.? As the clock approached, nerves had set in. Neither he nor anyone around him was sure whether he would make the US squad for the 2026 World Cup. After all, he hadn't played a single game for his German club, Borussia Mönchengladbach, this year. He had only contributed to five of the club's goals in the previous three seasons. He hadn't done much to prove that he deserved one of the 26 coveted spots in this star-studded tournament. But then the email appeared on his phone. A video from US coach Mauricio Pochettino followed. The fear disappeared and the anticipation increased. He had done it. After all the injuries and playing time issues, he had made it. "Was I surprised? No," he said Tuesday. "I wasn't surprised, no." He spoke for several minutes, mostly with a smile, and at times his answers could be perceived as a bit blind or even presumptuous, perhaps evidence that Reyna hasn't changed much since 2022. When asked what he learned from that World Cup when he was almost sent home for behavioral problems and whether he had one four years later other person, he replied, "Um, not much, I guess. That's obviously in the past." When asked if his call-up for this World Cup was some kind of personal redemption, he shrugged and replied: "Uh, no, not really. I don't know what it would be compensation for." But obviously he had changed. Four years ago, at age 20, he assumed he would play. When he was told, according to his own version of events, that his "role in the tournament would be very limited," he was devastated. "I believe in my abilities," he said in an Instagram statement after the tournament. “I fully expected and desperately wanted to contribute.” When it became obvious that wasn't going to happen, at least not the way he imagined, "I let my emotions get the best of me and that affected my training and my behavior for a few days," he admitted. Four years later, he avoids answering questions about those days in Qatar at all costs. But his attitude is different. He goes into this World Cup with no expectations or assumptions. “I think everyone wants to play every minute of every game,” Reyna said Tuesday. "But sometimes things don't go that way. So this time I just want to handle it so that I'm ready for whatever needed. Of course I want to play en, but that's what 26 people want, so it's never that easy," he added. And that's why, he concluded, "whoever is needed, I will be ready to help." Saying those words is one thing, of course, the other is to live them. But Reyna was able to convince the one man who counted, Pochettino, that this change was real. Pochettino has spoken about how he wanted "the right players," not necessarily "the best players." He decided that Reyna fits into this group. Why? "I think we all know that, Gio has incredible talent and also experience," said Pochettino on Tuesday. "From the last course [in March] and from Philadelphia [in November] he was fantastic. He can help the team in different ways. He has the quality to stop the ball, play it and combine with his teammates. I think he has qualities that make a difference." That fact is undisputed for many. But Pochettino added, making a statement that may have surprised some doubters. "I really trust him," he said. "I trust everyone, but especially him." "I'm not saying he will play the game, but he can help. He can help from different aspects of the game because he is a different player with a different talent. And I think you need a player like him in every squad." According to Reyna, Pochettino has not yet been asked what roles these will be seemed to suggest, in a somewhat confused answer to a question about his central midfielders, that Reyna could also play in a more defensive role. However, it is much more likely that he will be used as a game-winning creative player who comes on as a substitute. However, one statement he repeated again and again on Tuesday was that he would be ready no matter what role was given to him. "I can't thank him enough for bringing me to a World Cup on home soil," Reyna said of Pochettino. "It means a lot. It's a dream come true. And at the end of the day I want to do him a favor on the field and help this team be successful.

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