Reyna's agent calls USA boss Gregg Berhalter 'self-serving'

USA’s World Cup camp turn on each other, as Gio Reyna’s agent calls boss Gregg Berhalter ‘self-serving’ for revealing star’s ‘extreme’ bad behaviour – after a 13-12 split in a squad vote on exiling him

• The USA reached the last-16 of the World Cup before losing against Holland
• Gregg Berhalter is now back in the USA and has opened up at a leadership event
• He claims he almost sent an unnamed player home from the World Cup in Qatar
• Boss didn’t name the player, but fans were quick to speculate online about it
• Reports suggested the player was Gio Reyna but his agent has hit back at claims 
• Click here for the latest World Cup 2022 news, fixtures, live action and results

Gio Reyna’s agent has hit back at claims his client was nearly sent home from the World Cup as USA’s exit from the tournament continues to turn uglier.

USA boss Gregg Berhalter revealed that he nearly dismissed a player from his squad that advanced to the last-16 before being eliminated by Holland. 

According to the Athletic, that player was reported to have been Borussia Dortmund star Gio Reyna.

Gio Reyna’s (above) agent has defended his client following USA’s World Cup exit

Gregg Berhalter (left) said he almost sent an unnamed player home from Qatar due to behavior

However, Reyna’s agent Dan Segal later addressed the report claiming that the situation was ‘complicated’ and appeared to turn on Berhalter by suggesting it was ‘disrespectful’ to make private team matters public. 

‘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,’ he told the Athletic.

‘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.

‘At this point, our view is that nothing more is gained by those associated with the national team turning on each other, and we plan no further comment on this matter.’

Berhalter is back on American turf and has spoken out about an issue he had in Qatar

The Athletic reported that Gio Reyna was the player involved in the USMNT drama 

Reyna failed to start a single game in Qatar, much to the dismay of supporters given his star power to the team.

He only appeared for only seven minutes in the 0-0 draw with England and the second-half of the 3-1 defeat by Holland.

Berhalter admitted that the extreme circumstances of nearly suspending a player from his camp reached a point where he was ready to book a plane ticket home for a squad member. 

‘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. There aren’t going to be any more infractions.

Reyna sat in the stands with his family members after the USMNT were knocked out by Holland

Reyna played just 52 minutes of football in Qatar, both from off the substitutes’ bench including a late seven minute cameo against England in the group stages (above)

GIO REYNA SCORES STUNNING GOAL FOR  BORUSSIA DORTMUND FOLLOWING WORLD CUP EXIT

‘But the other thing we said to him was, you’re going to have to apologize to the group, but it’s going to have to say why you’re apologizing. It’s going to have to go deeper than just “Guys, I’m sorry.” And I prepped the leadership group with this.

‘I said, “Okay, this guy’s going to apologize to you as a group, to the whole team.” And what was fantastic in this whole thing is that after he apologized, 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.’

The Athletic’s report claimed that ‘multiple sources’ close to the team revealed that Reyna had put in ‘an alarming lack of effort in training’ before the USA’s opening group stage match against Iran, which he was subsequently benched for.

The team also played in a scrimmage against Qatari club Al Gharafa, in which Reyna was described as ‘walking around throughout the game’.

DeAndre Yedlin and Aaron Long are said to have pulled Reyna aside at various points throughout the tournament, urging him to show more effort.

Reyna shares a discussion after the England game with Borussia Dortmund team-mate and Three Lions star Jude Bellingham

It was then reported that Reyna apologised to the entire team – as described by Berhalter – after which he turned a corner and ‘understood he was part of a collective group’.

Reyna has since immediately put USA’s World Cup exit behind him after making a stunning impact on his return to Dortmund.

Playing in a mid-season friendly tournament against Rapid Bucharest, the 20-year-old hit a sweet half-volley to score and help the German outfit run out 2-1 winners.

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