The Gio Reyna-Gregg Berhalter feud has now taken a wild turn. On Wednesday afternoon, ESPN dropped a report that the Reyna family — lashing out in anger after the Team USA head coach gave very little playing time to Gio during the World Cup — attempted to blackmail Berhalter with details of a decades-old domestic incident.
The Reynas called Berhalter on Dec. 11, a few days after Team USA’s elimination from the World Cup and threatened to reveal details of a 1991 incident between the coach and his current wife, Rosalind Berhalter. According to the report, Claudio Reyna, Gio’s father and former Team USA captain, had shared with U.S. Soccer officials in hopes of taking down Berhalter.
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Gregg Berhalter-Gio Reyna World Cup Spat Takes Ugly Turn
Gregg Berhalter took to Instagram on Tuesday to try to explain the domestic violence incident.
“During the World Cup an individual contacted U.S. Soccer, saying that they had information about me that would ‘take me down’ — an apparent effort to leverage something very personal from long ago to bring about the end of my relationship with U.S. Soccer,” Berhalter said in the post.
“In the fall of 1991, I met my soulmate. I had just turned 18 and was a freshman in college when I met Rosalind,” Berhalter said in his statement. “One night, while out drinking at a local bar, Rosalind and I had a heated argument that continued outside. It became physical and I kicked her in the legs.”
Berhalter’s statement would go on to say that he sought counseling after the incident and has been happily married to Rosalind for the past 30 years.
Gio Reyna and Gregg Berhalter seemingly had a good relationship before the World Cup. Berhalter’s relationship with the family spans decades. Claudio Reyna and Berhalter both played for Team USA from 1994 to 2006, and their wives played together for the University of North Carolina.
Berhalter remembers watching Gio Reyna play soccer in his early teens, and that bond initially carried over to their relationship on the pitch.
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“Now as the national team manager it turns into a different relationship, but the connection is always there. The bond is always there,” Berhalter said last June. “Our families are very close. Very good friends and in Gio there are moments where I look at him and — putting him on the field or something. It’s so familiar. You’re looking at something that is so familiar to you and that’s such a great feeling. It’s almost like you’re putting a family member in the game. That’s been really fun.”
For whatever reason, Berhalter opted to keep Reyna on the bench despite the general belief that he would play a central role for the United States throughout the World Cup. But Reyna made two appearances in four games — he played seven minutes off the bench against England and 45 against the Netherlands in the Round of 16.
After Gregg Berhalter made cryptic comments about how he had considered sending one disgruntled Team USA player home from the World Cup, Gio Reyna took to Instagram to admit he did not initially handle the benching well.
“I let my emotions get the best of me and affect my training and behavior for a few days … I apologized to my teammates and coach for this, and I was told I was forgiven,” he wrote in an Instagram post on Dec. 12.
It’s now clear that the once-strong bond between the Berhalter and Reyna families has collapsed, and it remains to be seen how U.S. Soccer moves forward. The organization announced Wednesday that assistant coach Anthony Hudson will lead Team USA during camp this January as the investigation into Berhalter — and the program’s review of its performance at the 2022 World Cup — continues.
