USMNT: How Christian Pulisic and Gio Reyna can change youth development

Christian Pulisic paved the way for Gio Reyna to make his mark at Borussia Dortmund. Now both can change the USMNT youth development.

Inspiration is vital. It can often be spoken about in such broad and airy terms that no one really knows what it is, or the impact that it can have. But being motivated to work hard is essential. No professional, in any walk of life, ha got where they are without working on their craft. Professional football, perhaps more than most professional endeavours, demands as much.

And for many young children, the motivation to practise, to work on their technique, to tactically study the game, to improve their athleticism, speed, strength and physicality comes from being inspired by those they see before them.

For football in America, a young sport that many young kids do not fall into like basketball or baseball, it often takes a trailblazer or two to provide inspiration. Kids had to actively choose to play football. However, this is changing, and a large reason is the improved performances and competitive level of the professional players.

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The expectations were raised by Christian Pulisic. He is the first bonafide elite U.S. Men’s National Team player. Landon Donovan never played extensively in Europe. Clint Dempsey was little more than an average Premier League player. Pulisic cost north of $70 million and is a potential world-class winger competing in the best league in the world. No American has ever come close.

And because of Pulisic’s success, others are following. “He didn’t just open the doors for me but for everyone (in the U.S.),” 17-year-old Gio Reyna told The Athletic when discussing his move to Borussia Dortmund to follow directly in Pulisic’s footsteps. “Because of him, young (U.S.) players have come to Europe to big clubs, looking to take the next steps in their career. He’s the one who has really made that possible. He made us believe we could do this.”

In the same piece, Claudio Reyna, Gio father’s, also discussed the decision that his son made in 2019: to join Dortmund or to stay with New York City FC where he had been with the academy since the age of 12.

“He kind of went back and forth, he loves NYCFC, loves the club and the experiences that he had,” Reyna said. “He had options and had some good ones, but at the end, he just felt that one. It was as simple as that. At the end, (Dortmund) was where he ultimately felt really sure. And that’s what gave me a lot of comfort, to know that it was what he wanted to do.”

Pulisic inspired Reyna, and now the teenager is flourishing as a result. He has was accelerated into the Dortmund first team after just six months with the club and is largely viewed as one of the brightest young prospects in the Bundesliga.

In the same piece, Dortmund discuss their intent to search America. “One of the decisions we made was to focus more on the Americas,” Markus Pilawa, chief scout at Borussia Dortmund, told The Athletic. “We didn’t know all that much about the U.S. market, and therefore decided to use existing contacts to give us better insight.”

They found Pulisic in 2015. They found Reyna in 2019. That process offers hope to other young kids that they too can make the switch across the pond and join a European giant who are renowned for their development of young stars.

Reyna, then, provides inspiration to those who might follow, just as Pulisic provided inspiration to him. Between the pair, they can change youth development in the USMNT.