American football ‘tended to REMEMBER Gregg Berhalter’ before Gio Reyna’s family feud broke out in the wake of World Cup exits – as coach admits fallout is ‘personally…a difficult time’
- Gregg Berhalter led the US Men’s National Team to the R16 at the World Championships
- He has since had to endure an investigation into a three-decade-old incident
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The U.S. Soccer Federation reportedly favored re-signing World Cup coach Gregg Berhalter before the Reyna family exposed a past indiscretion, sparking a feud that has caused great uncertainty for the USMNT ever since.
According to a depth Yahoo Sports reportAmerican football leaned heavily toward Berhalter’s renomination after he led the Stars and Stripes to the Round of 16 in Qatar last December.
Berhalter told Yahoo Sports that the period since the World Cup has been “a difficult time” for both him and his family, as details of his and wife Rosalind’s private lives were shared by former friends – and parents of US player Gio – Claudio and Danielle Reina.
He was cleared and seemingly remains a candidate for the role following the completion of an independent investigation into a 1992 domestic violence incident involving his then-girlfriend Rosalind, although the Yahoo report, according to conventional wisdom, suggests that Berhalter now “has a chance to be’ is. hired again.’
USMNT World Cup coach Gregg Berhalter has had his career jeopardized by the leak
The outlet also says that the relationship between the Reynas and Berhalters “appears totally broken.”
This bizarre turn of events was seemingly triggered by Berhalter, without naming him specifically, who reportedly criticized Gio Reyna at a moral leadership rally on Dec. 6 — saying he had fallen short of expectations at the World Cup in Qatar.
Soon after, Reyna’s mother Danielle informed the federation about the 1992 incident that has since rocked American football. Reyna is widely regarded as one of the best talents in the US, but did not start a World Cup match under Berhalter.
The USMNT has been without a permanent head coach since Berhalter’s contract expired on December 31 and former assistant Anthony Hudson took over on an interim basis.
Alston & Bird, who led the investigation into the saga, “found no evidence to contradict” accounts of the incident that took place 31 years ago.
In addition, the report found that while Claudio and Danielle Reyna did not commit “blackmail or extortion,” it raised the question of whether Claudio’s communications violated the FIFA Code of Ethics.
Claudio Reyna, the report said, had “a pattern of periodic outreach…to US Soccer officials and personnel from in or about 2016 through the end of 2022…to address complaints and comments about US Soccer’s treatment of its children, including primarily his son, USMNT player Gio Reyna.”
Specific complaints in the report include Claudio Reyna asking for a red card against his son in 2016, complaining about the involvement of a female referee in a match in 2018 and moaning about travel plans and amenities in 2019.
Danielle and Claudio Reyna said Gregg Berhalter beat up the now-wife Rosalind
The Reynas Complained About How USMNT Coach Gregg Berhalter Treated Their Son Gio
The Reynas, through their agent, heavily criticized the report, casting them in a less than desirable light.
“Claudio and Danielle acknowledge that they have said and done things in the heat of the moment that they regret, particularly the statement that prompted the investigation,” said Dan Segal, an agent for Claudio and Gio. told The Washington Post last month.
Gio admits that, like countless players before, he showed too much disappointment when he was not selected to play in the World Cup.
“That’s only part of the story here, but the only side of the story the researchers wanted to tell. It is disheartening and extremely unfair to see the family turned into one-dimensional caricatures in order to continue a story that benefits others.”