US men’s national team center back Tim Ream has squashed the Gio Reyna-centric controversy that’s enveloped the program since they left the 2022 FIFA World Cup in early December.
The brouhaha emerged when off-the-record remarks from head coach Gregg Berhalter were made public in a Charter newsletter and said they nearly sent a player home. Quickly after, a story in _The Athletic_ detailed how Reyna apologized to his teammates for a perceived lack of effort in training.
The 20-year-old Borussia Dortmund attacker then issued a statement on his Instagram page, saying he “let my emotions get the best of me” after learning he’d have a limited role in Qatar. Reyna confirmed he issued a team-wide apology.
“For us, it's a non-story,” Ream said on the ‘Indirect’ podcast he co-hosts. “We dealt with it in camp. Things moved on, we moved past it and that's where we are.”
The 35-year-old Fulham defender, the most senior member of the USMNT’s World Cup roster, also said there was no player vote to send Reyna home despite a report claiming there was a 13-12 decision for Reyna to stay: “We can put that to bed.”
Reyna didn’t start any of the USMNT’s four games in Qatar, only getting seven substitute minutes (vs. England; didn’t play vs. Iran or Wales) as they placed second in Group B. He was then a halftime substitute in their Round of 16 match vs. the Netherlands, though couldn’t prevent a 2-0 halftime deficit from turning into a 3-1 knockout defeat.
Ream’s comments were the first time a USMNT World Cup player has addressed the issue around Reyna, one of the Yanks' most-talented players.
“We addressed it in camp and [Gio] did what he had to do,” Ream said, “and obviously came on against the Netherlands and played a solid 45 minutes for us and helped to kind of drag us back into the game. For us, that's it. That's the end of it.”
The USMNT return to action next month when facing Serbia (Jan. 25) and Colombia (Jan. 28) in Los Angeles-based friendlies. Those games will begin the 2026 World Cup cycle; the US co-host the tournament alongside Canada and Mexico.
