Gio Reyna knows he’s facing an uphill battle to get to the World Cup

Gio Reyna hasn’t played a match for Borussia Mönchengladbach since January 17, a 21-minute spell against Hamburg. He’s only seen the pitch 14 times across all competitions this season for the German outfit while managing an assist, thanks in part to injury.

So his name probably wasn’t high on the list of players who were potentially in line to make the United States men’s national team March roster. Ask the 23-year-old, and he certainly knows why people are questioning Mauricio Pochettino’s decision to bring him in for the USMNT’s two friendlies in Atlanta against Portugal and Belgium.

“It’s always an honor, to keep it simple, to come back,” Reyna said on Thursday afternoon at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground. “Understanding the club situation, I guess you could say it was one of his more difficult decisions or, I guess, controversial decisions to maybe bring me in.”

But here he is, potentially on the outside looking in at a spot in the World Cup this summer. That wasn’t the case four years ago, though, as a dynamic teenager who was one of the names to watch for the Americans in 2022. It nearly ended with a flight back home from Qatar after he showed a lack of effort in training before he apologized to the team after meeting with Gregg Berhalter. Reyna’s limited time in the tournament ultimately touched off a bitter, well-documented conflict between Berhalter and Reyna’s parents.

Four years later, facing longer odds, Reyna will be hoping to take advantage of the lifeline given to him by Pochettino. He said the two of them have a “great relationship” while noting the “amazing” energy the head coach has brought to camp.

That said, there’s no guarantee he even sees the pitch at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“I think it’s always easier when you’re playing week in and week out. In my case, it’s not like that, (but I feel) fortunate and, of course, always honored and happy to be back in with the coaches’ trust,” Reyna said.

“But yeah, if the opportunity comes up, I still feel very prepared to make an impact this camp on the field.”

Of course, from a wider lens, there’s the fact that this World Cup will be held on North American soil for the first time since 1994. In 2022, the U.S. went out against the Netherlands in the Round of 16. The average age of the roster was 25 years and 86 days, the youngest-ever in a World Cup knockout stage match.

Four years later, and four years wiser, they’ll be out this summer to build on the lessons since Qatar. Reyna hopes he’s among the group that makes the cut.

“Obviously being a part of the group in the last four years, sort of seeing how everybody’s grown individually and 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. We hope to bring this with us and have a better showing.