Gio Reyna's Stellar Performance Shines in USMNT Victory
The co-hosts could hardly have scripted a better opening night. A 4-1 win over South American opposition, the history books rewritten, and a reminder that this United States side has more than one match-winner in its ranks.
Christian Pulisic lit the fuse early, tormenting defenders before being withdrawn at half-time, his work done. Folarin Balogun, trusted to lead the line, justified every ounce of that faith with a ruthless brace, the Monaco striker moving with the swagger of a man who knows this stage belongs to him.
And then, as the clock bled into stoppage time and the result was long since secure, came the flourish. Gio Reyna, the long-discussed, long-awaited talent, stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight.
Reyna’s reminder
Eight minutes into added time, the 23-year-old collected the ball on the edge of the box. No rush. A couple of measured strides forward, the briefest glance, and then a strike that belonged on a highlight reel, not a tactical chalkboard. With the outside of his right boot, he wrapped a trivela past Orlando Gill’s full-stretch dive, the ball bending away and in, a finish that drew a collective gasp rather than a simple cheer.
Everyone has known Reyna could do that. That has never been the debate. The frustration, for club and country, has lived in the gaps between those moments: the injuries, the stop-start seasons, the stretches where his body would not let his talent breathe.
Kasey Keller has seen that story unfold closer than most. The former USMNT goalkeeper, now watching this generation carry the flag he once held, has tracked Reyna’s progress from birth, not just from Borussia Dortmund or Borussia Monchengladbach. His connection is personal; his assessment, blunt.
Asked about Reyna’s strike and what it might signal, Keller told GOAL: “I think that's what we're waiting for. We're waiting to see how that can be week in and week out. Then the other question is why can't it be week in and week out yet?”
That is the crux of it. The talent is not in question. The rhythm is.
Gladbach, setbacks and a simmering promise
Keller had welcomed Reyna’s winter move to Borussia Monchengladbach with particular interest, not only as a former Gladbach player but as someone who believed the club could offer the minutes and freedom the playmaker craved.
“I was really excited that he went to Gladbach, obviously as a former Gladbach player, but I thought he had something that would really help Gladbach,” Keller said. “He was playing quite a bit more and then picked up a little injury and then took some time, and then at the end of the season was getting a little more playing time.”
That pattern has become uncomfortably familiar: a run of games, a setback, a restart. Progress measured not in full seasons but in small bursts. No one feels that more acutely than Reyna himself.
“I'm sure nobody's more frustrated than Gio,” Keller admitted. The connection runs deep. “The family's staying at our house for the Seattle game. I've known Gio since he was born, obviously how close I am to Claudio. Obviously talent-wise, sky's the limit and now it's just that little piece of finding that consistency, finding that something that ensures that you're on the pitch.”
The United States now head to Washington state for a meeting with Australia on Friday. For Reyna, it is another chance to turn a spectacular cameo into something more sustained, another opportunity to convince Mauricio Pochettino that he belongs at the heart of this project, not just on the edges of it.
Super-sub or starter?
Right now, that question still hangs over him: is he best deployed as a late-game weapon, or ready to shoulder a full 90 minutes in a midfield already stacked with energy and bite?
With Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and Malik Tillman driving the engine room, Reyna’s profile is different. Less destroyer, more designer. Keller believes the current balance is understandable, and that Reyna himself knows where he stands.
“I'm sure he understands as well that he just hasn’t had the minutes, for whatever reason to think that you're ready for the full night,” Keller said.
The logic is harsh but fair. When the trio in front of you is humming, patience becomes part of the job description.
“Look, if somebody goes down, I don't think there's going to be a problem. That was a pretty dynamic trio in midfield. I don't think by any means that Gio couldn't slide in there comfortably, if let's say Tillman goes down or something like that.
“But we've all been in those situations where you're ready, you feel ready, but the guys in front of you are playing really, really well. You just have to wait your time.”
For now, Reyna is the ace in Pochettino’s back pocket: the player who can change the temperature of a game with one touch, one angle, one outrageous finish. In a World Cup on home soil, that kind of trump card can decide a campaign.
Numbers that should be bigger
Reyna’s record for the USMNT already reads like the start of something significant. Thirty-nine senior caps, goals into double figures. On paper, that is a solid international career. On talent, it feels like a fraction of what it should be.
He knows it. The staff know it. The fanbase certainly does.
The plan now is simple, even if the execution rarely is: stay fit, stay on the pitch, and let the numbers climb. This tournament offers the perfect platform. The United States are not hiding their ambition; they intend to go deep, to turn home advantage into something tangible.
At club level, the 2026-27 campaign looms as a potential reset at Borussia Monchengladbach, a chance to turn promise into production across an entire season rather than in scattered chapters. If that happens, if the minutes finally match the talent, the conversation around Reyna will change from “what could he be?” to “how far can he take them?”
For now, though, the image that lingers is that stoppage-time trivela, bending away from Gill’s reach. A reminder that on the biggest stage of all, Gio Reyna still has the ability to make a game – and maybe a World Cup run – bend to his will.
