Gio Reyna Back in USMNT Fold After Missing Out on June Matches

Borussia Dortmund's Gio Rey will reunite with United States national team coach Greg Berhalter for the first time since their bitter public spat after the midfielder was named in the squad for this month's friendlies.The USA will face Germany in East Hartford, Connecticut on October 14 and then play Ghana three days later in Nashville, Tennessee.Reyna and Berhalter got into a heated bust-up during last year's World Cup in Qatar that put Berhalter's future as coach of the US national team in doubt.

The controversy expanded to include an investigation into a 1991 altercation between Reyna's parents and Berhalter and his wife, then his girlfriend.The coach, whose contract expires at the end of 2022, was cleared after an investigation by the federation and ultimately reappointed as the USA coach in June.Berhalter took charge of the team again in September for friendlies against Oman and Uzbekistan but Reyna was injured in those games and was not called up.The couple have since spoken and Berhalter said their video call went well but there was still work to be done on their relationship.

“I would say the conversation was positive. I really appreciated the conversation and said, I think it's going to take time," he said.

"So, I think although it may take some time, we're both aligned with what we want to accomplish," he said.

Reyna is coming back from injury and has yet to feature for Dortmund this season and Berhalter said they need to be careful with his involvement.Berhalter will be without key central midfielder Tyler Adams who picked up an injury with his Premier League club Bournemouth.The clash with Germany will be the debut for their new coach Julian Nagelsmann, who replaced Hansi Flick, who was sacked after a 4-1 friendly defeat at home to Japan.Berhalter, who played in Germany for Energie Cottbus and 1860 Munich, said he expected Nagelsmann to make an immediate impact.

“I know it will be interesting for Julian to see how he can translate these ideas to his team over three days."But, you know, that's part of the challenge of international soccer and he's a brilliant guy, a brilliant coach, and I'm sure he'll tackle it really quickly," he added.