LOS ANGELES STADIUM \u2014<\/strong> With victory already in hand deep into stoppage time of the U.S. men\u2019s national team\u2019s 2026 World Cup opener Friday night, the Americans simply needed to maintain possession and run out the clock.<\/p>\n Over the course of 70 seconds before the final whistle blew, the USA strung together 26 passes that zigzagged the field, culminating in a stunning goal by Gio Reyna to seal a 4-1 rout.<\/p>\n Reyna scored on a brilliant trivela, using the outside of his right foot to put just enough spin on the ball to send it beyond Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gil.<\/p>\n “My parents and my wife have been telling me to shoot more,” Reyna told me and reporters after the match with a sheepish grin. “I know I have a good shot, but I\u2019m conditioned to pass first, and they want me to be a little bit more selfish at times.”<\/p>\n This was the moment to do it. After a composed and patient buildup, Reyna received a pass from Alex Freeman just outside the box. He took one touch to push forward into space, then pulled off an incredibly difficult move to score his first-ever World Cup goal and send the already exuberant crowd at Los Angeles Stadium into another level of euphoria.\u00a0<\/p>\n “We see stuff from him like that every day,” said Christian Pulisic, who contributed to two goals in the first half. “So it\u2019s not like a crazy surprise. And he deserves it. It\u2019s great to see him pull it off in a moment like this.”<\/p>\n After the goal, 23-year-old Reyna celebrated by putting the ball inside his shirt and pretending to suck his thumb as a shout-out to his wife, Chloe, who is expecting their first child.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is all to say that the moment represented how things have come full circle for Reyna and his recent history with the national team.<\/p>\n At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a then-20-year-old Reyna was at the center of controversy that overshadowed the team\u2019s performance in the tournament when his immature attitude nearly got him sent home. Reyna\u2019s lack of playing time led to a highly publicized fallout between former manager Gregg Berhalter and Reyna\u2019s parents, U.S. Soccer legend Claudio Reyna and former U.S. women\u2019s national team player Danielle Reyna. Previously, the families had been longtime friends.<\/p>\n For the past few years, the conversation around Reyna has been dominated by that drama. His inclusion on Mauricio Pochettino’s World Cup roster was a source of debate for some, not only because of what transpired in Qatar but also because he wasn’t playing regularly for German club Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach.<\/p>\n But Pochettino has been clear in his comments about Reyna, consistently expressing trust in the player and belief in his talent. After the goal, the manager sprinted down the sideline to celebrate, embracing him in an emotional hug.<\/p>\n Gio Reyna celebrates scoring with teammate Antonee Robinson during the second half against Paraguay. (Photo by Shaun Clark\/ISI Photos\/ISI Photos via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Over the past few weeks, Reyna has repeatedly faced questions from curious reporters about the last World Cup. Each time, he has said that he\u2019s grown from the experience and is focused on the present. He wants to move on.<\/p>\n Sebastian Berhalter, who grew up with Reyna, has also found himself fielding questions about everything that went down with his father. But he usually doesn\u2019t engage. After Friday\u2019s match, a reporter asked Berhalter how it felt being on the field with Reyna since both came on as substitutes in the second half.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s not a story between me and him,” Berhalter said without hesitation. “We\u2019re on the same team, and, for us, it\u2019s just about winning games for the national team. He scored an incredible goal, he\u2019s an incredible player, and yeah, we want to make each other better. And we\u2019re fighting for the common goal to win games for our country.”<\/p>\n Perhaps now, after a magnificent goal that few can execute, any lingering questions or bad feelings from four years ago can finally be put to rest.\u00a0<\/p>\n USA’s Unforgettable World Cup Opener Turned Dreams Into Reality<\/p>\n The Key To The USA’s Historic World Cup Rout vs. Paraguay? ‘Just Go And Have Fun’<\/p>\n 4 Takeaways From USA’s Historic World Cup Win Over Paraguay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY LOS ANGELES STADIUM \u2014 With victory already in hand deep into stoppage time of the U.S. men\u2019s national team\u2019s 2026 World Cup opener Friday night, the Americans simply needed to maintain possession and run out the clock. Over the course of 70 seconds before the final whistle blew, the USA strung […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}