When one looks from afar it’s amateur hour, worse yet amateur hour from two of the countries most decorated former USMNT players. On the one hand you haveGregg Berhalter, at the moment former USMNT coach, not being able to maintain a locker room situation private and exploited it for his own benefit, on the other the Reyna family, who are the equivalent of soccer royalty in the United States not allowing their son to have a growing up experience and trying to intervene at every which way.
Gio Reyna’s benching at the FIFA World Cup led to the USMNT coach’s personal history with his wife of over 20 years being exposed to a public forum that already was hostile towards him. In the end no one wins, and US Soccer looks even worse than it ever has as a ‘club of friends,’ absent executives, and disgruntled players mismanaging the situation every which way.
Lost in the mudslinging were the good things the USMNT showed at the World Cup, and brought to the forefront are all of the problems US Soccer has. Here is a timeline of the events that has given US Soccer yet another blackeye.
Gregg Berhalter scandal timeline of events
November 21, 2022 – The USMNT draws Wales 1-1 in their opening match of the FIFA World Cup, one glaring omission in the match was that Gio Reyna did not play, raising questions regarding the health of the talented midfielder who already had injury issues prior to the World Cup.
In the post-game press conference Berhalter implies that Reyna was battling an injury, in the press zone Reyna says he was ready to play and that his omission was a coach’s decision.
November 25, 2022 – Reyna plays only seven minutes in the 0-0 draw between England and the USMNT. Once again questions arise about Reyna’s role on the team.
November 26, 2022 – Amid inconsistent responses on the health and playing situation of Gio Reyna, former USMNT striker turned pundit Eric Wynalda claims Berhalter asked Gio Reyna to lie about his injury status to squash talks of a “rift” between player and coach. The Reyna family was not happy with the situation, and this caused a huge backlash from fans and pundits.
November 29, 2022 – The USMNT defeat Iran 1-0 and go through to the round of 16, during the team celebrations at the hotel Gio Reyna is filmed as being indifferent while walking through the rest of his teammates who were celebrating.
December 3, 2022- The USMNT is eliminated from the FIFA 2022 World Cup in the round of 16, 3-1, against the Netherlands. The World Cup is deemed a marginal success, Gio Reyna plays only 51 minutes of the USMNT’s four matches and is the biggest talking point of the tournament.
December 6, 2022 – At a HOW Institute for Society’s Summit on Moral Leadership in New York, Gregg Berhalter speaks to those in attendance and mentions how a player during the 2022 World Cup was not being up to par with his actions off the field and in traning. Gregg Berhalter claims things got to a point where the player’s antics and attitude led to a vote among his staff to see if said player was kicked out of the squad mid-tournament.
Berhalter would later mention that the player in question eventually apologized for his offenses and was allowed to stay with the team and the incident was “squashed”.
Almost immediately pundits and fans assume the player is Gio Reyna and the statements are made public on December 11th.
December 11, 2022 – That same day the Reyna camp issued a statement where Gio Reyna owns acting immature at the tournament but also takes Gregg Berhalter at his word that “things that happen in the locker room stay in the locker room.”
December 14, 2022 – Reyna’s club Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund releases a statement standing by their player.
December 31, 2022 – Gregg Berhalter’s contract officially ends as USMNT head coach but according to reports conversations are ongoing to remain at his job.
January 3, 2023 – Gregg Berhalter and US Soccer release a statement, on the one side the “current” head coach reveals that during the World Cup tournament “someone” contacted US Soccer to reveal a domestic violence incident that took place when the coach was 18 where he kicked his future wife in the legs at a bar. Berhalter in his statement alludes that he indirectly was being “blackmailed” and that the information was provided to remove him from his position as coach of the USMNT.
US Soccer releases a statement that they are looking into the matter and have hired a law firm to investigate.
January 4, 2023 – ESPN and other journalists reveal that the persons who offered up the information on Gregg Berhalter wereDanielle and Claudio Reyna, but their intentions was not to “blackmail” Berhalter.
