Gio Reyna admits he is fortunate to have the belief of coach Mauricio Pochettino after being called into the United States squad for this international window.
Reyna’s club career has fallen off a cliff in recent seasons with persistent injuries leading to a lack of playing time.
He joined Borussia Monchengladbach from Borussia Dortmund last summer in the hope he would get back on track and four successive starts before Christmas hinted he was on the right path.
However, another injury has restricted him to just 26 minutes in 2026 and his inclusion in Pochettino’s squad for tomorrow night’s game with Belgium in Atlanta and the clash with Portugal next week was a surprise.
The Sunderland-born winger is grateful for the Argentine’s faith in his ability.
He told ESPN: “[I’m] fortunate and of course, always honoured and happy to be back in with the coach’s trust. But yeah, if the opportunity comes up, I still feel very prepared to make an impact this camp on the field.
“I guess you could say it was sort of one of his more difficult decisions, or, I guess controversial decisions to maybe bring me in. [I] can’t appreciate it enough. Love this team, love this staff, love this group of people, so just always honoured to be here. And yeah, of course, same time, I feel prepared, regardless of the playing time situation at club.
“So if the chance comes up in the next two games, I have confidence in myself and the team that I can do some good things and make good impact.”
Reyna was a part of the USA squad that reached the round of 16 at the World Cup in Qatar but ended up a disruptive figure, leading to criticism from then coach Gregg Berhalter that spiralled into a feud between the Berhalter and Reyna families.
That appears to be water under the bridge now and Reyna believes the experiences learned in the Middle East in 2022 have helped him and the team grow.
“I think, obviously being a part of the group in the last four years, sort of seeing how everybody’s grown individually, collectively, here at the national team, we’ve made big strides,” Reyna said. “I think we’ve taken a lot of things from the last World Cup, even though it did happen four years ago, sort of learned a lot about ourselves, and really felt like we had to grow up in that World Cup as a lot of us were in our early 20s or late teens.
“So we hope to bring this with us and have a better showing if, obviously, we all get the chance in summer.”
The jury is very much out on Pochettino’s team, and the progress made under him since he replaced Berhalter in September 2024.
It is not thought he will stay on in the post beyond the World Cup that the US is hosting along with Canada and Mexico. These two tests against strong European opposition ought to tell us much about where the team is at with less than three months to go before the US open their campaign against Paraguay on June 12.
For Belgium, this is another useful exercise for squad bonding. The Red Devils can no longer call on the Golden Generation but the return of the vastly experienced Kevin De Bruyne is a major boost.
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Team news for USA v Belgium
Romelu Lukaku pulled out of the Belgium squad due to injury but his Napoli team-mate De Bruyne is fit again and will likely start. Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is sidelined, as is Arsenal winger Leandro Trossard.
The US are without injured quartet Tyler Adams, Haji Wright, Sergino Dest and Roman Celentano.
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