On Tuesday, Gregg Berhalter revealed that the US Soccer Federation was conducting an investigation into an incident between the USMNT boss and his wife in 1991 at a bar, where Berhalter kicked her during an argument. The two have been married for 25 years now and in the past, openly discussed the matter. Well, it's now known who exactly told the federation about that night over 30 years ago: Gio Reyna's mother, Danielle Reyna.
The Reyna family considered the Berhalter's close friends and after the US coach made some rather questionable comments about the youngest Reyna, who only featured as a substitute at the World Cup in Qatar, Danielle decided to leak information.
“To set the record straight, I did call (U.S. Soccer sporting director) Earnie Stewart on December 11, just after the news broke that Gregg had made negative statements about my son Gio at a leadership conference,” Danielle Reyna said in a statement, reported by The Athletic. “I have known Earnie for years and consider him to be a close friend. I wanted to let him know that I was absolutely outraged and devastated that Gio had been put in such a terrible position, and that I felt very personally betrayed by the actions of someone my family had considered a friend for decades.
“As part of that conversation, I told Earnie that I thought it was especially unfair that Gio, who had apologized for acting immaturely about his playing time, was still being dragged through the mud when Gregg Berhalter had asked for and received forgiveness for doing something so much worse at the same age. Without going into detail, the statements from yesterday significantly minimize the abuse on the night in question. Rosalind Berhalter was my roommate, teammate and best friend, and I supported her through the trauma that followed. It took a long time for me to forgive and accept Gregg afterward, but I worked hard to give him grace, and ultimately made both of them and their kids a huge part of my family’s life. I would have wanted and expected him to give the same grace to Gio. This is why the current situation is so very hurtful and hard.”
So basically, Danielle Reyna was trying to get back at Gregg Berhalter for mistreating Gio in Qatar and claiming he had a “bad attitude”. Gio's father Claudio Reyna was a teammate of Berhalter's back in the day and captained the States at two World Cups. Interesting, to say the least. For now, USMNT assistant Anthony Hudson will step in as the main man for the team this month for friendlies against Colombia and Serbia while the investigation into Berhalter continues.
As for Gio Reyna, he simply deserves minutes. This young man is playing regularly at Borussia Dortmund and has tons of potential.
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