sport news USA 'believes in Gio Reyna' as he 'showed flashes of being our biggest ... trends now
A victory over El Salvador in Orlando on Monday night guaranteed a spot in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals for the United States in what is sure to be a busy summer.
The USMNT will be looking forward to their trip to Las Vegas after the 1-0 win thanks to a strike from Ricardo Pepi early on in the second half.
These last two matches - including a 7-1 thrashing of Grenada last Friday - saw Borussia Dortmund winger Gio Reyna starting both games after being benched during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
That decision to bench him - made by then-USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter - led to a scandal between the boss and Reyna's parents Claudio and Danielle that continues to embroil US Soccer to this day.
But after the match, interim manager Anthony Hudson - who recently claimed he hasn't thought of taking the full-time role - said that he was pleased with Reyna's performance - adding that the winger needs more playing time to gel with the rest of the squad.
Gio Reyna started both matches for the USMNT in their CONCACAF Nations League fixtures
These were the first starts for Gio since the scandal that broke out between his parents (R) & former USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter (L) over his lack of playing time at the World Cup
'Gio's performance overall, I thought was really good. We didn't have the best of first halves, but I thought he showed flashes of being our biggest attacking threat.
'And then second half, the same. ... These CONCACAF games where you're playing in the opposition's half and there's not a lot of space between the back line and the midfield line, it can make it difficult.
'But we believe in him, like clearly he has talent and you see tonight some of the things he does.
'He probably needs a few more games under his belt. Tyler Adams not being here affects that. He's someone who would have been perfect in there.
'But listen, we're pleased with him. We're pleased what he's done. We're very, very
