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Kyle Bonagura, ESPN staff writer
After more than two years, Giovanni Reyna’s goalless drought with the United States national team has ended.
The 20-year-old attacking midfielder scored his first ever international brace as the United States beat Ghana 4-0 on Tuesday at Giudice Park in Nashville. All four goals came in the first half, with all three scorers – Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun and Reina – coming off after 45 minutes.
For Reyna, the performance represents an important step forward, both for the United States and for his future at club level, as he has appeared just once this season for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
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Let’s start with what wearing a USA jersey means to him.
The past two years have been close to the worst-case scenario. This is partly due to the expectations that accompanied his debut in a friendly match against Wales as a 17-year-old in 2020. It was difficult not to view him as anything other than a superstar in waiting. He had already broken through for Dortmund, made an impact in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League, and slotted straight into coach Gregg Berhalter’s starting line-up in the United States – a place he thought he would fill with the team for the next decade or so.
This situation remained as it was until the beginning of the World Cup qualifiers, when he was injured in the El Salvador match in the first match out of 14 matches. Since then, I have had setback after setback. Injuries were the main culprit, and of course there was the awkward family drama that marred the World Cup and contributed to Berhalter being away from the team for half a year. There will come a time when it won’t be necessary to rehash this saga, but since this was Reyna’s first camp under Berhalter since the public falling out between their close families, this was always going to be an important milestone.
We’re not privy to an honest account of what Berhalter-Reyna’s interactions were like last week, but the results on the field were encouraging. Against Germany on Saturday, the USA performed clearly better with Reyna on the field, and that was the case again against Ghana. With Reina playing in both matches in a central midfield role under Balogun, the USA are perhaps as dangerous in the attacking third as they have ever been.
Reina’s position with the national team has been a topic of discussion since his inception. Before the match against Germany, Berhalter used Reina strictly as a winger. The logic was easy to follow: he put Reyna in position to influence the game offensively, while allowing the midfield trio of Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and Yunus Musah to play together. Except that this trio was good at times, this combination didn’t do much offensively. The team struggled to create chances consistently throughout the World Cup qualifiers and at the World Cup.
With Reina in an advanced role in midfield, the team suddenly had someone who could create, score and dictate the game. This element, combined with Balogun’s talent up front – with Pulisic and Timothy Weah on the wings – should solve much of what has plagued the United States.
Reina’s first goal demonstrates that. Balogun was played into a dangerous area by Serginho Dest, and his shot bounced across the penalty area to Reina, who calmly slotted it into the net in the 10th minute. This was by no means an exact execution, but it was the result of good things happening through pressure. Following a penalty kick by Pulisic, Balogun showed a brilliant turn and finish after forcing Weah into a substitution. The defeat occurred in only the 22nd minute of the match.
A clever series of indirect free kicks initiated by Balogun and Pulisic from inside the box set up Reyna for his second goal, despite all eleven Ghanaian players scoring below the box.
The United States was so dominant in the first half on Tuesday, it was fair to question the Black Stars’ motives. The classic chicken-or-egg dilemma of assigning credit and blame. But the truth is that the USA fielded a strong and motivated lineup at home against a team with more pressing matches on the schedule.
Although this window marked Reina’s 90 minutes for the national team, it could also serve as a springboard for more playing time in Germany. There were no obvious signs of rust in his return from a foot injury suffered with the United States during the Nations League in June, and Berhalter’s hope was that minutes with the United States – for which his substitutions were planned for the first half – would help him. Improving his fitness and showing that Reina is ready to contribute again. There is now hope that Reina can revive that trajectory at Dortmund.
