USMNT: Top 5 bloomers to watch for 2022 World Cup
1. Giovanni Reyna
It has been a meteoric rise for Giovanni Reyna. Still only 17, the young winger burst onto the scene with Borussia Dortmund earlier this season, scoring a stunner on his debut, spinning past two defenders and arrowing a shot into the top corner, before then assist Erling Haaland against Paris Saint-Germain in the knockout stages of the Champions League, his debut in the competition as he broke Christian Pulisic’s record as the youngest American to play in the competition.
Reyna is a creative midfielder who picks up terrific positions in between the lines, is nuanced and controlled in possession, before then sliding passes forwards, looking to prise open opposing defence. He has now made 11 appearances for the Dortmund first team. In the under-19 Bundesliga West, he has four goals and seven assists in 932 minutes. In the UEFA Youth League, he has an incredible four goals and one assist in 359 minutes. He might just be special. And don’t just take my word for it.
“In training, you can see that he has something special,” Dortmund head coach Lucien Favre said. “If you can’t see that, you’re blind.”
Next. USMNT: Predicting World Cup qualifying XI. dark
Reyna might end up being the most talented player that the USMNT has ever produced. And even though he will turn 20 as the 2022 World Cup commences, like Pulisic before him, he might just be a starter by then.