Report: Gio Reyna was almost sent home from the World Cup due to lack of effort

Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder Gio Reyna was almost sent home from the 2022 FIFA World Cup due to an alarming lack of effort in training, it is being reported.

Gio Reyna was surprisingly limited to just 52 minutes of playing time at the 2022 FIFA World Cup as the United States men’s national team was eliminated at the round of 16 stage. It is now being reported that his lack of minutes had less to do with his health or fitness, and more to do with a lack of intensity in training.

According to the Athletic and ESPN, Reyna showed an alarming lack of effort in training and it caused significant frustration within the team. The Athletic add that the situation became untenable and had to be addressed multiple times, and the 20 year old also had to apologise to his teammates for his lack of effort.

USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter referenced the situation during a speech last week without naming the player. He added that the situation was so bad that they almost decided to send the player home.

"“In this last World Cup, we had a player that was clearly not meeting expectations on and off the field. We were ready to book a plane ticket home, that’s how extreme it was. And what it came down to was, we’re going to have one more conversation with him, and part of the conversation was how we’re going to behave from here out.”“But the other thing we said to him was, you’re going to have to apologise to the group, but you’re going to have to say why you’re apologising.”“What was fantastic in this whole thing is that after he apologised, they stood up one by one and said, ‘Listen, it hasn’t been good enough, you haven’t been meeting our expectations of a teammate and we want to see change.’ They really took ownership of that process. And from that day on there were no issues with this player.”"

"Gio Reyna’s agent Dan Segal said in a statement to the Athletic after the story came out, “Gio obviously did not have the experience anyone hoped for at the World Cup. The situation, relationships and interactions among parties are far more complicated than what has been reported.”“It is disappointing and disrespectful for certain parties to be commenting on private team matters publicly, especially when some do so without full knowledge of the facts and others do so in a self-serving manner.”"

Reyna only featured in one of the United States’ three group stage games at the World Cup, coming on as a late substitute against England. He then came on at half-time in the USMNT’s round of 16 clash against the Netherlands with his side trailing 2-0, but wasn’t able to help turn the game around.

After the USMNT’s exit from the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Gio Reyna returned to Germany and took part in Borussia Dortmund’s mid-season friendly match against Rapid Bucharest on Saturday. The attacking midfielder scored a stunning goal from the edge of the box to help the Black and Yellows earn a 2-1 win in the 60-minute match.