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<\/p>\nCHESTER, Pa. \u2014 It had been more than 16 months since Gio Reyna last started for the U.S. national soccer team, but given his slide from prominence since the last World Cup, his presence in the lineup Saturday against Paraguay felt more like it had been years.<\/p>\n
But there he was, stationed in central midfield when the opening whistle sounded in the third-to-last tuneup before Mauricio Pochettino selects the 26-man roster for next summer\u2019s tournament in North America.<\/p>\n
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With Reyna\u2019s U.S. outlook fading and his European club career stalled, Pochettino extended a lifeline. It took him less than four minutes to score and, near the end of a 75-minute performance brimming with confidence and comfort, he set up Folarin Balogun\u2019s winner in the 2-1 victory at Subaru Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s [team] performances like this that can help everybody here,\u201d said Reyna, who scored his first U.S. goal since March 2024. \u201cBut I want to have, more importantly, seven or eight good months [with his German club] and then I believe, if I keep performing like I did tonight, I’ll have a good chance to make the [World Cup] team and have an impact there too.\u201d<\/p>\n
He certainly impressed his coach and teammates.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSo happy with him,\u201d Pochettino said. \u201cHe showed why he started [and] the capacity to read the game and find the free space in between the lines. He was a nightmare for Paraguay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goalkeeper Matt Freese added, \u201cBoy, it’s fun to play with him. You can just get him the ball and things will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reyna might get another chance to prove himself Tuesday when the Americans, unbeaten in four straight, close their 2025 schedule in Tampa against Uruguay.<\/p>\n
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Reyna had not played for the U.S. team since the CONCACAF Nations League finals in March and hadn\u2019t been in the starting lineup since July 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri \u2014 a loss to Uruguay that ended the Copa Am\u00e9rica campaign and Gregg Berhalter\u2019s coaching tenure.<\/p>\n
By then, Reyna and Berhalter were patching up their relationship following a rift during and after the 2022 World Cup that also involved Reyna\u2019s parents. Berhalter\u2019s departure offered a clean slate for Reyna, but because of injuries and a lack of playing time on the German club scene, his star continued to fade in U.S. circles.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Folarin Balogun’s late goal was the difference as the USMNT beat Paraguay 2-1 in a friendly Saturday in Chester, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
(John Dorton\/ISI Photos\/USSF via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
A summer move to M\u00f6nchengladbach from Borussia Dortmund has not helped his cause much. His only club start since March came in a Bundesliga match two months ago. Nevertheless, Pochettino last week called Reyna a \u201cspecial player\u201d and suggested he wasn\u2019t about to give up on him.<\/p>\n
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Both in person and through his club activities, though, Reyna is running out of time to make an impression on Pochettino, who, after this camp, will gather the team in late March for reported friendlies against Portugal and Belgium in Atlanta. He\u2019ll name the World Cup roster in May.<\/p>\n
With several U.S. regulars missing this week, including Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tim Weah, Saturday provided a prime opportunity for Reyna and others.<\/p>\n
\u201cGio wanted to come into camp and do his thing, wanted to put the noise behind him, and I felt like he did that,\u201d Balogun said. \u201cIt was a really strong performance in a difficult game.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Reyna said the coaching staff has made him \u201cfeel valued, feel important, feel ready to go. When you feel better mentally, you can definitely play better on the field too. \u2026 Just have to keep working now. Pretty simple.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. team \u2014 and Reyna in particular \u2014 got off to a brilliant start. With Paraguay unable to alleviate pressure following a corner kick, Arfsten took initiative by pushing toward the end line and crossing Reyna for a leaping 6-yard header that struck the underside of the crossbar and dropped behind the goal line. It was his ninth U.S. goal, and first since the 2024 Nations League final against Mexico in Arlington, Texas.<\/p>\n
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Reyna moved ahead of his father, Claudio, on the U.S. career scoring list.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn’t even know how many goals I had, to be honest,\u201d Gio said. \u201cI was just happy to score, happy to be back. And I sent a few texts teasing him after the game, but he was happy for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paraguay answered in the 10th minute. Atlanta United’s Miguel Almir\u00f3n beat Joe Scally down the left flank and half-volleyed a cross into the 6-yard box. Alex Arce split center backs Miles Robinson and Tim Ream for a lunging header and his first international goal.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe all agree we cannot concede this type of goal because [it was] so easy,\u201d Pochettino said.<\/p>\n
The match also featured the return of Scally, Reyna\u2019s M\u00f6nchengladbach teammate who also had been omitted since March. Scally\u2019s start at right back allowed Sergi\u00f1o Dest to move onto the wing, where his attacking instincts are better suited.<\/p>\n
With Tyler Adams absent, Cristian Roldan got the nod ahead of Aidan Morris to partner with Tanner Tessmann in defensive midfield. Balogun, Pochettino\u2019s clear-cut favorite in the striker corps, was quiet until a 67th-minute, back-heeled volley almost connected with Dest charging into the box.<\/p>\n
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Pochettino made his first changes in the 67th minute, replacing Scally with Alex Freeman and Dest with Diego Luna.<\/p>\n
Four minutes later, pressure by Luna and Roldan forced a turnover. With his back to the goal, Balogun held the ball long enough for Reyna to make a run on the left. Balogun supplied Reyna, then made a run of his own. Reyna\u2019s cross caromed off a defender and fell to Balogun for a seven-yard one-timer \u2013 his eighth goal since joining the U.S. team in 2023. He has scored in his past three U.S. starts.<\/p>\n
Moments later, Reyna left to a rousing ovation from the crowd of 17,224. Balogun\u2019s replacement, Ricardo Pepi, squandered a sure thing in the 6-yard box, spoiling his first appearance in a year.<\/p>\n
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The miss caused anxiety in the closing moments as Paraguay turned up the heat against the ragged Americans. In his 11th consecutive start, Freese needed to make routine saves only, then watched helplessly in stoppage time as a wicked cross nearly resulted in an own goal by Arfsten.<\/p>\n
The final moments were marred by a fracas at the sideline near the benches after Freeman and Gustavo G\u00f3mez wrestled for the ball before a U.S. throw-in. Paraguay\u2019s Omar Alderete, who wasn\u2019t in the match, received a red card.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThat type of situation is very, very, very dangerous,\u201d Pochettino said.<\/p>\n
The U.S. players quickly came to Freeman\u2019s defense, a show of unity that has grown the last few months.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were a few cheap shots thrown from their end,\u201d Freese said. \u201cBut it’s part of being a team, and we’re going to be standing up for each other no matter the moment, no matter the end of the game, beginning of the game, in the middle of the game, on the sideline like that. That’s what it means to be a team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHESTER, Pa. \u2014 It had been more than 16 months since Gio Reyna last started for the U.S.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[122490,154008,122491,154010,99937,15106,4902,56978,114184,86471,154004,154005,154009,154006,86475,12553,26,114183,147127,35381,4042,154007,403,99,121397,114182,121398,86476,36455,90221,121394],"class_list":["post-294672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-aidan-morris","tag-alex-arce","tag-alex-freeman","tag-arfsten","tag-atlanta-united","tag-belgium","tag-borussia-dortmund","tag-christian-pulisic","tag-cristian-roldan","tag-folarin-balogun","tag-gio-reyna","tag-gregg-berhalter","tag-gustavo-gomez","tag-joe-scally","tag-matt-freese","tag-mauricio-pochettino","tag-mexico","tag-miles-robinson","tag-omar-alderete","tag-paraguay","tag-portugal","tag-ricardo-pepi","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-tanner-tessmann","tag-tim-ream","tag-tim-weah","tag-tyler-adams","tag-uruguay","tag-usmnt","tag-weston-mckennie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}