Berhalter and Reyna recently spoke for the first time since last fall’s World Cup, when Reyna’s poor attitude and lack of effort in training nearly led to his removal from the team. Speaking at a roundtable with reporters last month in Chicago, Matt Crocker, the sporting director for U.S. Soccer, declined to provide details of the conversation but said “both Gregg and Gio are in a good place to move forward.”
“Clearly there’s been a lot of emotions over the last 12 months,” Crocker added. “The common connection is they both want the program to be successful and that’s the starting point and there’s a clear way forward, a professional way of working and they’re both ready.”
The oft-injured Reyna, 20, one of the most talented young American players, was nearly sent home from the World Cup after he sulked through training sessions, upset over Berhalter’s decision to use him in a reduced role off the bench. After the tournament Berhalter, speaking at a leadership conference, referenced the incident without naming the player. That touched off a feud with Reyna’s parents, who informed U.S. Soccer of a decades-old domestic violence incident involving Berhalter and the woman he would later marry, briefly costing the coach his job.
Reyna played for the U.S. under interim coach B.J. Callaghan in the Nations League last summer but left the final with Canada at halftime with a leg injury. As a result, he has yet to play for Borussia Dortmund, his German club team, this season.
Reyna is one of 13 players from the World Cup team called up for this month’s matches with Germany on Oct. 14 in East Hartford, Conn., and with Ghana on Oct. 17 in Nashville. Players are expected to begin reporting to camp on Sunday in Nashville.
“In line with our long-term strategic approach towards 2026, we have a great opportunity to play against two world-class opponents and continued to progress our group,” Berhalter said in a statement. “We are focused on selecting strong rosters and maintaining continuity as much as possible. And this is another important building block.”
Missing from the team is World Cup captain Tyler Adams, who recently suffered a significant setback in his attempt to come back from a hamstring injury that had sidelined him since March. Adams played 21 minutes for Bournemouth in the Leagues Cup last week but did not dress for his team’s next game.
The roster
Goalkeepers: Ethan Horvath (Nottingham Forest), Matt Turner (Nottingham Forest)
Defenders: Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven), DeJuan Jones (New England Revolution), Kristoffer Lund (Palermo), Tim Ream (Fulham), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Midfielders: Johnny Cardoso (Internacional), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo), Lennard Maloney (Heidenheim), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Yunus Musah (AC Milan), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven)
Forwards: Brenden Aaronson (Union Berlin), Folarin Balogun (Monaco), Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Tim Weah (Juventus)