Gio Reyna suffered another indignity on Tuesday, failing to see the field in his homecoming match at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovač left Reyna on the bench for a 0-0 draw with Fluminense in the tournament opener for both teams.
The match took place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. — just an hour from Reyna’s hometown of Bedford, N.Y.
But Reyna still was an unused substitute, just as he was in eight of Dortmund’s last 10 league games. The 22-year-old made 25 total appearances during the 2024-25 season, scoring two goals.
In March, Reyna told FIFA in an interview that he was excited about the prospect of playing so close to his hometown. After Tuesday, it reads rather depressingly.
‘It’s one of those stadiums that I’ve watched [games in] so much growing up that it’s maybe going to be a little bit strange to actually be on the pitch there,’ he said of MetLife Stadium.
‘I’m very excited for me and, of course, all my family and friends in the area — I’m going to have to get a lot of tickets for them. It should be fun and I’m really looking forward to it.’
Reyna, of course, missed out on U.S. men’s national team duty this summer with FIFA giving the Club World Cup priority. There have been continuous rumors that Reyna will leave Dortmund before the new season, but the German club still opted to take him to the tournament in his home country.
But that doesn’t appear to mean the club has any plans to alter his role.
Speaking to reporters before the Club World Cup, Kovač said: ‘Gio is a player of Dortmund since four or five years. He is a part of my team at the moment. Gio is for sure a player who didn’t play so much, but we know exactly his strengths but we have top players here in the squad.
‘So the confidence is very big, so hopefully every player can get minutes, but I can’t promise you this is depending also on the results, also injuries, but my ambition is to give every player minutes. But this is always in relation to the results.’
Dortmund’s other two Americans at the tournament, Cole Campbell and Mathis Albert, also didn’t see the field on Tuesday.
