Teenage Borussia Dortmund Standout Giovanni Reyna Committed To Playing For The USMNT

The United States men’s national team is on the verge of ushering in a golden generation of talent. Despite the side’s inability to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, a number of youngsters — both in MLS and abroad — have injected optimism about the future of the national team, whether it’s ahead of the 2022 World Cup or other international tournaments.

Some of these names have been around for a few years, like Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic, RB Leipzig midfielder Tyler Adams, and more. The new kid on the block, though, is Borussia Dortmund midfielder/winger Giovanni Reyna, the son of American footballing royalty and the kind of precocious talent who could turn into a star for club and country for the next 15+ years.

Reyna — the son of former USMNT captain Claudio Reyna — has been a revelation for Dortmund, breaking into the first team in December 2019, less than 12 months after he joined the side from New York City Football Club’s academy. It’s rare that players this young (he turned 17 this past November) can make this kind of transition into a club as gigantic as Dortmund, and as a result, he’s been in high demand among other national teams. Reyna, for a myriad of different reasons, is eligible to play for Argentina, England, and Portugal, with whispers popping up that he had caught the eyes of the trio of international footballing giants.

In a bit of good news for the United States, however, Reyna addressed his international future on Thursday, telling German newspaper Ruhr Nachrichten that he plans to suit up for the red, white, and blue.

“It’s very clear for me: I will only play for the United States, that’s my home,” Reyna said, per ESPN. The official USMNT Twitter account was, unsurprisingly, quite excited, and Reyna reinforced this announcement by posting an image to his Instagram story.

You may be wondering why Reyna committing to the United States is such a big deal, beyond the fact that he has to be good if he’s garnered interest from other major countries. For starters, despite the fact that he is so young, he is capable of doing things like this, which is one of the most impressive things I have ever seen out of an American footballer, regardless of age.

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Having the kind of talent and composure to do literally everything he does in the above clip — the silky, composed dribbling to navigate a group of defenders without giving up the ball, an absolutely stunning finish that could beat any keeper on earth — would be startling if he was an established professional, but to have it at such a young age is preposterous. Reyna is also rather physically imposing, standing at 6’1 and already having the strength and athleticism to look like he belongs on a pitch with adults, which is doubly impressive considering the sheer chaos that is the high-octane way Dortmund plays. Dortmund manager Lucien Favre normally takes a more conservative approach to youngsters, but he recently was quoted as saying, “In training you can see that he has something special. If you can’t see that, you’re blind.” Since his first-team debut on Dec. 7, Reyna has appeared in nine matches (all as a substitute) across all competitions with a goal and an assist.

USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter has said that the team plans on calling Reyna up for a pair of friendlies later this month. In a pair of European tilts, the squad plays the Netherlands on March 26 before traveling to Wales for a match against their national team on March 30. He cannot be cap tied until he plays in a competitive match for the Yanks, with the next opportunity for that coming on June 3, when they take on Honduras in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Nations League. Berhalter has not said whether or not Reyna will be called up for that match.

As for his fit with the U.S., Reyna’s future seems to be tied to that of Pulisic. While the two will always be linked due to the fact that Pulisic also broke into Dortmund’s first team as a teenager, they both can play on the left or as an attacking midfielder. Pulisic’s more natural position is the former, but we have seen him play the latter for the USMNT. Regardless, these two can potentially be the lynchpins of the American attack — along with players like Lyon’s Timothy Weah, Werder Bremen’s Josh Sargent, and a handful of others — for at least the next three World Cup cycles if all goes right, and while we’ll have to wait and see whether that will end up being the case, Reyna’s commitment to the national team on Thursday is a major step in that direction.