By Leocciano Callao
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USMNT star Gio Reyna made his take on Gregg Berhalter’s firing clear after liking a post about the news within minutes.
His dismissal followed the United States’ dreadful exit from Copa America at the top of July behind back-to-back losses to Uruguay and Panama.
As fans long cried for his firing, their failure to make it past the group stage proved sufficient for US Soccer to pull the plug on Berhalter’s second tenure in charge, just 14 games after getting rehired.
While the news – originally reported by FOX – circulated social media platforms, sports outlet Bleacher Report echoed the update on their main and football Instagram accounts.
Less than ten minutes later, Reyna was seen liking the post, which comes as no surprise to US Soccer fans.
Gio Reyna liked an Instagram post about Greg Berhalter’s firing ten minutes after it came out
Berhalter was dismissed as the USMNT head coach after an early Copa America exit
Their ugly fallout unfolded in front of the public eye after Reyna missed out on valuable minutes during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The Borussia Dortmund midfielder missed their opening group match, a 1-1 stalemate against Wales. He then appeared in eight forgettable minutes in a scoreless draw against England.
With concerns over his lack of playing time, news surfaced that Berhalter kept Reyna sidelined due to an attitude problem in training. The alleged ‘lack of effort in the training grounds’ reportedly made the coach consider sending Reyna home in the middle of the tournament.
Berhalter memorably benched Reyna during the 2022 World Cup due to an ‘attitude problem’
Reyna’s parents got involved by ‘blackmailing’ Berhalter with information about his past
The Americans left Qatar after a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands in the Round of 16, during which Reyna was subbed in at the intermission but was largely ineffective. However, things got uglier Stateside when Reyna’s parents got involved.
After seeing their son get benched on the grand stage for an alleged attitude problem, Danielle and Claudio Reyna dug into Berhalter’s past. Alleging that their then longtime friend did worse things in his 20s, the disappointed parents brought up a case of domestic violence from the 1990s.
‘I thought it was especially unfair that Gio, who had apologized for acting immaturely about his playing time, was still being dragged through the mud when Gregg had asked for and received forgiveness for doing something so much worse at the same age,’ Danielle told US Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart.
Claims then surfaced that Berhalter ‘kicked his wife’ during the said incident.
The Copa America hosts failed to make it out of the group stage with Berhalter in charge
After being reinstated as USMNT head coach in June 2023, Berhalter was fired just a year later
US Soccer later revealed that it was investigating the incident, and Berhalter revealed details because, he said, an individual had brought them to U.S. Soccer in an effort to ‘take me down.’
The ‘blackmailing’ drew much backlash from analysts as Berhalter’s old deal with the national team expired that December.
Nevertheless, he was reinstated as the coach in June of 2023 only to get terminated a year later.
Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group
