USMNT: Erling Haaland ensures Gio Reya hype train chugs along

Gio Reyna’s teammate at Borussia Dortmund, Erling Haaland, had some kind words for the young USMNT star. The hype train is very much chugging along.

Gio Reyna is playing with some of the world’s best players at Borussia Dortmund. And one of his most famous teammates had some kind words for the U.S Men’s National Team prospect, which should go a long way to showing just how special a talent the teenager is.

Erling Haaland is one of the greatest young sensations in recent history. His debut at Dortmund was nothing short of spectacular. He came off the bench and ended up netting a hattrick. In eight games for Dortmund, he has nine goals! So, if Haaland has some good things to say to you, you must be doing something right.

In an interview with ESPN, Haaland sure had a lot to say about Reyna:

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"“He’s 17-and-a-half soon, so in such a young age to be so calm on the ball and play for such a big team, it’s very fascinating to see how calm he is and he doesn’t care about anything, he just jumps right into it. Like the same with Jadon [Sancho], he is a top talent and we are lucky to have him. He can get to the very top.”"

Now, Haaland isn’t exactly going to trash his teammate but his words hold weight. Saying that Reyna can go to the top of football isn’t boilerplate support of a teammate. It is actually quite the claim.

The calmness that Haaland speaks of will help Reyna as his career progresses. At 17 years old, he is already breaking into the first team of one of the leading clubs in world football. Soon enough he could see himself in the Premier League alongside Christian Pulisic, who also hailed from the renowned Dortmund assembly line.

Reyna’s calmness allows him to play with pinpoint precision. He finds pockets of space, receives the ball in tight areas, but then does not panic, waiting for opportunities to play forwards and supply his teammates. We saw this in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain when he made a beautiful pass to Haaland himself who thumped a finish into the roof of the net.

It has been great to see the soccer world embrace Reyna. He is the United States crowning jewel over in Germany right now because he is so young and his potential is sky-high. Most USMNT fans are hoping that Reyna will also get a chance to shine at the next World Cup, despite the fact that he will turn 20 as it kicks off.

Of course, talent is only half the equation. Reyna needs opportunity, a bit of luck, hard work and dedication. He is at the right club to progress, but he still has a lot of work to do to fulfil his other-worldly potential. It is not unreasonable to suggest that he can match Pulisic as the highest-performing American player of all-time.

And so, if USMNT fans were already excited about his future before Haaland’s praise, after such heady and bullish statements, the hype train will only continue to chug along.