World Cup dishes: USA assessed to send home Gio Reyna
Four teams and four matches remain in this year’s WC. For the layers that have come off, the dirty laundry has really begun.
As Argentina, Croatia, Morocco and France prepare for the semi-finals, other nations are looking for explanations, scapegoats and solutions as to why the didn’t get it to vote in soccer world cup.
Among them is the USA, who advanced from their group after finishing second behind England, but were eliminated in the round of 16 after losing to the Netherlands.
– We were ready to book a plane ticket home, that’s how extreme it was, told USA national team manager Gregg Berhalter, and charged with playing in the squad, at a leadership conference in New York this weekend according to Charter works.
A number of media, among others The athletic, reported early that the player Berhalter referred to was Gio Reyna.
The 20-year-old, who plays for Borussia Dortmund on a daily basis, only got just under one playing time in the championship in Qatar, no one made more of a reaction.
Player apologized
Berhalter gave the explanation for why he did not play more at the conference after being asked about it «how he handles difficult decisions around performance».
– An example I can give you: In the World Cup, we obviously did not meet player expectations on and off the pitch. One out of 26 players, so it stood out. As a staff, we sat together for hours and thought about what to do with this player, Berhalter said.
It all ended with Reyna apologizing to her teammates. On Tuesday, the 20-year-old took to Instagram to explain his side of the story.
– Just like before the WC, Berhalter told me that my role was going to be limited. I was devastated, Reyna writes, among other things, in the post.
– I am an emotional person and I recognize that I feel very overwhelmed and affected my training and behavior for a few days after I got the message. I apologized to my teammates and coaches, and I was forgiven. Then I shook off a lot of disappointment and everything I had both on and off the pitch, he writes further.
Several coaches disappear
Reyna will by all accounts be seen in the next championship for the USA. For a number of coaches it is less likely.
In total, seven national teams have “lost” their manager after the World Cup, either because the coach has been fired, or resigned of his own free will:
- Spain. Luis Enrique: Got sacked.
- Brazil: Adenor Leonardo Bacchi: Ga seg.
- Belgium. Roberto Martínez: Go ahead.
- The Netherlands. Louis van Gaal: Clear before the championship.
- Mexico. Gerardo Martino: Go ahead.
- Ghana. Otto Addo: Go ahead.
- South Korea. Paulo Bento: Go ahead.
– It has been a pleasure. I am so proud of these players. It’s been incredible, it’s been six years where we’ve been able to do everything you want to do in a club or on a national team, and that makes very extremely proud, said Martinez when it became clear that he would not be with further, according to BBC.
Belgium, which was previously uncovered as one of the favorites to fight for the World Cup trophy, but did not advance from the group stage.
Points to political focus
Nor did Denmark advance from the group stage. In the three games they played in this year’s championship, they were only left with one point after a draw against Tunisia.
Until then, national team manager Kasper Hjulmand sits comfortably. Against Danish TV 2 has the director of the Danish Football Association (DBU), Peter Møller, said that they want a long cooperation with the 50-year-old.
Hjulmand himself has long since begun to reflect on why things went the way they did.
Without jumping to conclusions, he points to one thing that for a moment they should have avoided: The politics in and around the championship in Qatar.
– In retrospect, it would have been better for the team if I had just said: Stop, football! Any other football questions? And then we could have left the room if it wasn’t. I know that it had enormous consequences, says Hjulmand in a longer interview with Dansk TV 2.
The 50-year-old is referring to the huge amount of questions that were directed at the national team after their first game in the championship. As before, they decided not to wear the controversial ‘One Love’ captain’s armband, fearing punishment.
According to Hjulmand, that and other political questions linked to the World Cup took up more space and the questions about the match itself.