Bundesliga

Gio Reyna 'deserves to play' at Dortmund, says USMNT teammate Joe Scally

Published Jan. 30, 2024 12:06 p.m. ET

When close friends and U.S. men's national team teammates Joe Scally and Gio Reyna hang out during their downtime in Germany, they rarely discuss their day jobs: playing for Bundesliga clubs Borussia Mönchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund, respectively.

"Most of our conversations are not about soccer," Scally told FOX Sports Tuesday during a Zoom call with a few reporters.

"What he does and what everyone does with their career, they kind of just keep to themselves."

That's not to say that Scally doesn't have an opinion on Reyna's struggles to find playing time this season with Dortmund, where he's found himself behind longtime German national teamers Julian Brandt and Marco Reus on manager Edin Terzić's central midfield depth chart.

According to multiple reports out of Europe, Reyna is determined to leave the Black and Yellow, his employer since 2019, before the continent's winter transfer window slams shut on Thursday.

"Of course it's been a difficult time for him," Scally said of his fellow 21-year-old. "He deserves to play and deserves all the minutes he can get."

Those minutes have been hard to come by for Reyna since he recovered from a broken leg that ruled him out for the start of the 2023-24 campaign. All told, Reyna — the son of USMNT great Claudio Reyna and former U.S. women's team winger Danielle Egan — has logged just 360 in 14 appearances across all competitions, an average of just 25 minutes per match.

Where will Gio Reyna end up? Sevilla, Marseille, and Nottingham Forest lead the pack | SOTU

Reyna was born in England when his father was playing for then Premier League side Sunderland. But like Scally, he grew up in New York. The two players came through the academy of MLS club New York City FC before moving to the Bundesliga, one of the world's top domestic circuits, while still in their teens.

They've remained tight through the years and often get together on days off in their adopted home; the cities of Dortmund and Mönchengladbach are only about 60 miles apart. "We talk, we hang out, we just do normal 21-year-old stuff," Scally said. "We play Xbox all the time."

Unlike Reyna, Scally has had no issues getting on the field this season. He's started 16 of ‘Gladbach's 19 games, going the distance in 10 of the club's last 11 matches.

With the USMNT, the pair have opposite roles. Reyna started the final four matches of 2023 after returning from injury, while U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter has preferred veteran Sergiño Dest over Scally at right back for most of his almost five-year tenure.

But Scally has performed well in place of Dest when called upon; last June, he started the 2022-23 CONCACAF Nations League final win over Canada. And with Dest suspended for this March's Nations League semi against Jamaica, he should get the chance again.

"it's always difficult when you're playing every single game with your club, then to go [on international duty] and not play," he said. "Every player wants to play, so of course I'm excited for games like this. I've played in big games already for the national team, whether it was last year in the final, where I started in the same position in an even bigger game than this one coming up. So it's something I'm excited for."

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men's and women's national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.