U.S. men's national team boss Gregg Berhalter says that he believes that Gio Reyna is ready for bigger challenges as the Borussia Dortmund star gears up for his inevitable senior international debut.
Reyna broke through in a big way with Dortmund this season, making 18 appearances for the Bundesliga giants in his first season with the senior team.
The 17-year-old, who scored a stunning goal against Werder Bremen in the DFB-Pokal, became part of an attacking trio alongside fellow teenagers Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho, as Dortmund boast one of the youngest and most dynamic attacks in the world.
Reyna became the third-youngest player ever to appear in a knockout game of the Champions League when he featured off the bench against Paris Saint-Germain while he also becoming the youngest American to record an assist in a Champions League fixture by setting up Haaland in that match.
Having become a regular with Dortmund, Reyna's rise to the USMNT has become inevitable, with the youngster expected to follow in the footsteps of his father, Claudio, who featured prominently for the USMNT and his mother, Danielle Egan, a former member of the U.S. women's national team.
Berhalter confirmed in February that Reyna was set to be called in for March friendlies, only for the coronavirus to force a half for the international game.
And the U.S. boss reiterated that he expects Reyna to be part of his plans when the national team does reconvene as he looks to give the talented youngster a chance to take yet another step forward.
“Dortmund did a great job of integrating him into the group in a calculated way to help him perform at high levels,” Berhalter told SBI Soccer. “How do we challenge him? How do we put him in a difficult environment to help him grow as a player? He’s one of those players who will keep rising to the challenge and we need to provide him with that.”
“Gio’s going to grow into a fantastic player, there’s no question about it,” Berhalter added. “Our job is to help with that growth. Does that mean him getting an opportunity, an early opportunity, to play in difficult games? That’s going to make him better, make him rise to an even higher level.”
Reyna's first opportunity to represent the USMNT may come in World Cup qualifiers, as CONCACAF has been forced to alter plans as a result of the coronavirus.
