Gio Reyna's Potential: From Trivela to Consistency
Gio Reyna’s reminder of genius came late, almost indulgently late, on a night when the United States had already ripped up the script.
The co-hosts were cruising, 4-1 up on South American opposition, the job long since done. Christian Pulisic had lit the fuse before departing at half-time, Folarin Balogun had bullied and finished his way to a brace, and Mauricio Pochettino’s team had strutted through a statement performance that felt like a declaration of intent for a home World Cup.
Then Reyna stepped out of the shadows.
A trivela to bookmark
Deep into stoppage time, in the eighth added minute, the 23-year-old collected the ball on the edge of the box. No rush. Two measured steps forward, a glance, then a wicked, outside-of-the-boot swipe. The trivela arced away from Orlando Gill’s desperate dive and kissed the far corner.
One touch, one idea, one reminder.
This is what Reyna does when his body lets him. The technique has never been in doubt. The vision, the swagger, the ability to turn a quiet cameo into a headline – all there. What has never followed is the rhythm: the week-in, week-out grind that turns moments into seasons.
That, as former USMNT goalkeeper Kasey Keller put it, is the missing piece.
Keller’s challenge: talent is not the question
Speaking to GOAL, with fans already arguing over who should be favourites for World Cup 2026, Keller didn’t bother pretending Reyna’s ceiling is unknown.
“I think that's what we're waiting for,” he said of the wonder strike. “We're waiting to see how that can be week in and week out. Then the other question is why can't it be week in and week out yet?”
It is not a rhetorical line from a distant pundit. Keller knows the Reyna story from the inside. He has known Gio since birth, is close to Claudio Reyna, and his bond with the family runs deep enough that the Reynas are staying at his house for the Seattle game.
That proximity sharpens the assessment.
“Obviously talent-wise, sky's the limit,” Keller said. The problem lies in that stubborn, unforgiving realm of consistency and availability – the little details that decide whether a gifted playmaker becomes a national-team luxury or its heartbeat.
Gladbach frustration and a stalled rhythm
Reyna’s club season at Borussia Mönchengladbach captured that tension. Keller, a former Gladbach player himself, admitted he was “really excited” when the loan was agreed. The fit looked right. The opportunity seemed clear.
For a while, it was. Reyna played more, began to stitch together minutes, then an injury nudged everything off course again. Recovery took time. By the end of the campaign, he was back on the pitch more regularly, but the stop-start pattern refused to break.
“I thought he had something that would really help Gladbach,” Keller said. The implication hung in the air: he still does, if he can ever stay on the field long enough to impose it.
No one, Keller insisted, is more frustrated than Reyna himself.
Super-sub or starter?
The question now for Pochettino is how to use him. For this tournament, Reyna has become a gleaming card in the deck rather than a guaranteed starter. Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and Malik Tillman have formed a dynamic, industrious midfield trio, full of running and bite. They give the USMNT control and aggression in the engine room.
So is Reyna, at least for now, best deployed as an impact option? Keller believes the player understands the reality.
“He just hasn’t had the minutes, for whatever reason, to think that you're ready for the full night,” Keller said. That is not a condemnation. It is a recognition of where he is in his journey – and where the team is in its evolution.
But if opportunity knocks?
“Look, if somebody goes down, I don't think there's going to be a problem,” Keller added. “That was a pretty dynamic trio in midfield. I don't think by any means that Gio couldn't slide in there comfortably, if let's say Tillman goes down or something like that.”
There is empathy in his words for a player stuck behind in-form teammates.
“We've all been in those situations where you're ready, you feel ready, but the guys in front of you are playing really, really well. You just have to wait your time.”
Numbers that should be bigger
Reyna’s international ledger underlines the sense of incompleteness. He has already reached 39 senior caps and moved his goal tally into double figures. On paper, that is a solid return for a 23-year-old.
In reality, it feels light.
He will feel it too. More caps left on the table through injury. More goals that might have come with a clean run of fitness. More tournaments where he could have shaped the narrative instead of dropping in for cameos of genius.
The plan now is simple: push both numbers upwards, fast.
Australia, Seattle, and a home World Cup on the horizon
The next step comes in Washington state on Friday, where the USMNT face Australia. For Reyna, it will be a homecoming of sorts, a chance to reconnect with the Keller family in Seattle and, more importantly, to force his way deeper into Pochettino’s thinking.
He should see plenty of action as this World Cup on home soil unfolds. The United States are not just hosting; they are intent on staying in the tournament long enough to matter. A long run requires more than a settled XI. It needs difference-makers off the bench, players who can twist a game with one audacious swing of the boot.
Reyna has already shown he can do exactly that.
Beyond the tournament, the 2026-27 campaign looms as a potential turning point at Borussia Mönchengladbach. A full pre-season, a reset, and a clear run of matches could finally align his body with his talent, and his reputation with his output.
The trivela in stoppage time was a glimpse of what he is. The real question for club and country is whether this World Cup becomes the moment when Gio Reyna finally turns flashes into a full, unbroken season of authority.
