Gio Reyna succeeds in bringing “a bit of life” to USMNT attack

Gio Reyna has played important roles in the U.S. men’s national team’s previous two CONCACAF Nations League triumphs and the midfielder carried that trend over to the Americans’ most recent run to the tournament final.

Reyna delivered two assists off the bench on Thursday as Gregg Berhalter’s squad defeated Jamaica 3-1 after extra time. The Nottingham Forest loanee has struggled for playing time in England this year, but didn’t let that stop him from earning Man of the Match honors in Thursday’s semifinal win over the Reggae Boyz.

“I think [Jamaica] scoring in the first minute made it pretty tough,” Reyna told reporters postmatch in a press conference. “[I] just [wanted to] affect the game. It was pretty simple. It was not our best performance today, and I just tried to bring a bit of life to the team.”

“I think their idea as a team was pretty clear after that, to sit deep and just close the middle and make it difficult for us [with] fouls,” he added. “You know how it goes. Some games are just really, really tough and they have a lot of quality and a lot of athleticism around the pitch and it was hard to cross. It was hard to go from the middle. But yeah, we stuck with it. Really proud of the team. And moving on to Sunday is the most important.”

The USMNT attack struggled heavily in breaking down Jamaica’s low defensive block, but Reyna’s entrance into the match certainly delivered a spark. Reyna was quickly connecting passes with his teammates, which later carried over to his two-most important contributions to the match.

Fellow substitute Haji Wright slotted home a pair of Reyna assists as the Americans grabbed and extended their lead in extra time. Wright’s name went onto the scoresheet, but it will be Reyna’s name who gets mentioned as the game-changing player in a crucial turnaround result for the USMNT.

“I think he showed why he got called into camp,” Berhalter said of Reyna. “Amazing…

Source link : https://sbisoccer.com/2024/03/gio-reyna-succeeds-in-bringing-a-bit-of-life-to-usmnt-attack

Author : Larry Henry Jr

Publish date : 2024-03-22 10:53:10

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