- Berhalter previously said he had not spoken to Reyna since he was rehired
- It is one of the final chapters in a once-in-a-generation scandal for American soccer
- DailyMail.com offers all the latest international sports news
Gregg Berhalter has finally made contact with Gio Reyna, the player whose family tried to end his reign as United States coach last year after a bitter World Cup crisis.
USA sporting director Matt Crocker confirmed that there had been contact between the two, with ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle reporting that the two had met.
“I think both Greg and Gio are in a good place moving forward,” he said on Sunday.
It is believed that Reyna will be called up to the USMNT for the upcoming camp – where the Americans will play Germany in Hartford, Connecticut and Ghana in Nashville.
In an article published in Vanity Fair last month, Berhalter admitted that he has not yet spoken to Gio since he was brought back as head coach of the USMNT.
According to reports, USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter (L) and player Gio Reyna (R) have reconnected
Berhalter and Reyna were both main characters in a major scandal within US Soccer
Berhalter also apologized for the way he handled the situation between him and Reyna — especially for the comments he made that started it.
A whole scandal started when Berhalter spoke at a conference after the World Cup had ended. At that conference he told stories about a player who had problems before the start of the tournament.
It later emerged that these comments were about Gio – who was angry at being relegated to a bench role in the tournament – and led to his parents revealing serious allegations about Berhalter from their student days.
Claudio and Danielle Reyna – longtime family friends of the Berhalters – revealed that Berhalter kicked his now-wife Rosalind in a drunken argument while they were both attending the University of North Carolina.
The two reconciled months later and have been together ever since – without a similar incident.
However, this revelation led to an investigation into Berhalter that began when his contract expired.
After months of investigation led by law firm Alston & Bird, Berhalter was found not to have committed any similar acts and US Soccer kept him in exchange for the USMNT job.
After months of a coaching search, Crocker reappointed Berhalter to his post through the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Reyna’s parents – father Claudio and mother Danielle – were upset about a lack of Gio’s playtime and revealed incriminating information about a feud Gregg and his now-wife had in the 1990s.
After the revelation sparked an investigation, Berhalter was brought back as manager
Berhalter had not spoken to Reyna since his reappointment as head coach, until now
Between the start of the year and Berhalter’s appointment, BJ Callaghan was selected as interim manager – a position he held until the end of the Gold Cup.
In the wake of Berhalter’s new appointment, Crocker reportedly told Reyna that he would play an “important role” in the team during the World Cup.
But until now Berhalter had not spoken to Reyna, something he said he would do before bringing the Dortmund winger back into the squad.
“It’s not something where you just pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey buddy, this is how it’s going to be.’ There is work to be done,” Berhalter told Vanity Fair.
“We both want the U.S. to win the World Cup and be very successful,” Berhalter said of his relationship with Reyna, “and now they are looking for a way to work together to achieve that.”
Berhalter added, “We started this process to kind of set expectations and figure out how we can move forward together.
“Some of it will involve him, some of it will involve us, and ultimately it will hopefully lead to Gio feeling comfortable on the team, comfortable that he’s being judged fairly and coached fairly and that he feels held to the same norms and standards as everyone else. .’