16 March 2023 , 17:04
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Chelsea star Christian Pulisic has labelled the controversy between former USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter and the Reyna family as "extremely childish" after finally speaking out.
The 2022 World Cup should have been an exciting occasion for the USMNT after missing out on the previous tournament, but it became dominated by an off-field spat between Berhalter and the Reyna family. Many were surprised to see Borussia Dortmund star Gio Reyna left out of the starting XI throughout the tournament, and it later transpired that it may have been due to off-field drama.
Tensions then led to an internal investigation by US Soccer, after Reyna's mother, Danielle, accused Berhalter of kicking his now wife Rosalind when they were teenagers. Berhalter's contract with the USMNT has since expired, but Pulisic has called the whole scenario "extremely childish."
"Everything that happened with Gregg first of all has been handled in an extremely childish manner," Pulisic said. "I think it's childish, it's youth soccer, people complaining about playing time.
"I don't want to go too far into that, but that's what we'll say." The USMNT made it through the group stages in Qatar, but fell at the first knockout round as they lost 3-1 to the Netherlands.
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Reyna is without doubt one of the most talented players within the USMNT set up, but Berhalter initially explained that it was due to a poor attitude shown in training that influenced his decision to leave him out. Reyna took to Instagram to explain his side of the story, and it infuriated his parents.
Berhalter didn't start Reyna during the 2022 World Cup (Getty)Both of Reyna's parents played soccer for the Unites States, with his father, Claudio, still seen as one of the best in USMNT history. It's never nice seeing your son sat on the bench, but things turned personal as an allegation was made towards the head coach.
While Reyna's mother was representing the States back in the day, she shared a room with Berhalter's now wife Rosalind. Reyna's mother said she suddenly decided to report Berhalter for 'kicking' her room-mate to US Soccer because it was "unfair" that "people were trashing" her son when the head coach had done something "much worse" at a similar age.
Berhalter's contract expired earlier this year, and it's yet to be seen if the USMNT will offer the head coach a new deal. It's an opportunity that Berhalter wants to take, as he has aspirations of reaching the semi-finals at the 2026 World Cup - that's being hosted in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Berhalter wishes to continue his project as USMNT head coach (COLORSPORT)"It's a fantastic group of players, super high potential in this group, and we are competing in the World Cup here in North America in 2026," Berhalter said to Harvard Business Review in January. "It would be an amazing challenge for this team.
"When we started in 2018 we wanted to change the way the world viewed American soccer, and I think when you ask around the world now about our team, the world sees us in a completely different light. But now it's about being able to take that next step.
"That next step is doing something that no US team has ever done, and that's getting to the semi-finals and see what happens from there. So there's a lot of great challenges involved and of course I'd like to continue in my role."