Just 209 days from kicking off their World Cup opener, the US men’s national team is still searching for options. Investigating possibilities. One might even use that loaded word: experimenting.
On a chilly fall night outside Philadelphia, at least one of those experiments yielded a possibility, an option, a long-awaited light at the end of a dark period for one of the most mercurial talents ever to wear a US jersey.
Gio Reyna’s return to the national team at all was noteworthy enough. That he started in Saturday’s friendly against Paraguay was somewhat surprising, given his lack of game time and recent injury at Borussia Mönchengladbach. That he scored within five minutes, continued to operate effectively well into the second half, then set up the decisive goal in a 2-1 win stands as a potentially – potentially! – crucial moment in the host country’s preparations for the world’s stage. If Reyna is happy, healthy, and comfortable with a role to play with the US, head coach Mauricio Pochettino has a very intriguing attacking option at his disposal that could raise the US team’s ceiling next year.
The Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder is unquestionably one of the most talented attacking midfielders of his generation, but much of his time since the 2022 World Cup has been spent traveling from one controversy to another, one injury to another, one unimpressed club coach to another, and now this summer, one club to another in search of the game time he needed to get back in the US picture.
He hasn’t quite found that time at Mönchengladbach, but Pochettino admitted he was called up to the US for this window because it is one of the last chances the head coach will have to assess Reyna’s fit with the team before the pool gets culled considerably ahead of the March 2026 international window – the last before the World Cup roster will be named.
The impressions were positive in camp, and even more positive early on against Paraguay. Reyna’s fourth-minute goal came on a rare header for the attacking midfielder, rising to meet a cross from Max Arfsten with a cushioned effort that bounced off the underside of the crossbar and over the line. Reyna wheeled away, seemingly doing everything in his power not to acknowledge the personal momentousness of the goal. With no histrionics, he pointed to the US badge, acknowledged his joyous teammates and returned to the center circle.
The US, of course, have concerns far broader than Reyna. Among them is the team’s ongoing adaptation to a three-man backline look that has brought the team the most success in 2025 – with three center-backs and two attacking wingbacks (On Saturday, Sergiño Dest on the right and Arfsten on the left) to push forward and join the attack at will.
While the US attack was missing big talents in Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie, the defensive unit had to similarly adapt without key stars – Crystal Palace center-back Chris Richards and Bournemouth defensive midfielder Tyler Adams, both of whom missed this camp after picking up knocks at club level.
As such, Saturday’s backline also featured a reintroduction: Reyna’s Mönchengladhabch teammate Joe Scally. Pochettino had decided against calling in the Borussia Mönchengladbach defender ever since a below-par display at March’s Nations League finals, but he returned to camp this week and appeared on Saturday in a new role for the US – as the right center-back in that three-man backline, which shifted to a back four when the US was out of possession with Scally shifting over to his natural right-back position.
The adapted backline defended well when called upon, with the notable exception of Alex Arce’s 10th-minute equalizer, as a simple long ball set the US on the back foot and gaps between the back three were so large and inviting that the 30-year-old wasn’t within five yards of pressure when applying the finish from around the penalty spot.
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However, they also experienced a number of difficulties in the first half in possession. At various points, all three of Tim Ream, Miles Robinson and Scally were caught napping in possession, unaware of pressure that forced desperate passes that were picked off in midfield, which were quickly followed by fouls and set pieces that Paraguay failed to capitalize upon. There were also occasional issues with positioning when the ball was upfield – Robinson picked up a yellow card in the 26th minute after Paraguay turned the US over and sprinted forward, leaving him in no man’s land where he made a tactical foul with other defenders around him to stop the break.
Those small lapses, though, were not representative of a larger pattern. The US’s solid defending allowed them to stay in the game, probing Paraguay consistently until Reyna popped up to provide the breakthrough. Playing a nice 1-2 with Folarin Balogun, Reyna picked his head up on the way to the endline and fired in a low cross that caromed off a couple Paraguay defenders before finding Balogun, who finished with ease. Reyna pumped his arm as Balogun sprinted away. Reyna was removed not long afterward.
The 75 minutes he played on Saturday stands as the most since the United States’ 2-1 loss to Uruguay in the 2024 Copa América, a loss that ended their tournament and the tenure of Gregg Berhalter as the team’s coach. The US meet Uruguay again on Tuesday in Tampa, Florida, once again in possession of an attacking option that they hope will lead to a better outcome.
