Gio Reyna, 19, has been out of action for several months, missing some vital matches for both club and country.
The US men’s national team and Borussia Dortmund winger has not featured since September due to a right hamstring injury.
He is likely to continue to lose time as he completes his recovery and gets back into match shape. The question now is when Reyna will be available for both the USA and Dortmund.
Why doesn’t Reyna play for Borussia Dortmund?
Reyna has been out of action since September 2, when he suffered a hamstring injury during the USMNT World Cup qualifier against El Salvador. He played the full 90 minutes of the match, but was ruled out of subsequent USMNT matches in that international window just a few days later.
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He has not featured for either Dortmund or the US since then, having missed seven World Cup qualifiers with the latter. Furthermore, he has missed most of Dortmund’s season, having appeared in just three of the club’s first 18 Bundesliga games.
The injury has been frustrating for the young winger as he was not originally expected to keep him out for so long. Of course, reports at the end of October indicated that he was expected to be back by then, but that setbacks he had thrown out that initial timeline. At that time, his club publicly expressed a hope for his return before the new year, but that did not materialize either.
When will Reyna return to Borussia Dortmund?
It has not been confirmed how soon Reyna could return to Dortmund, but it is possible that she will return after February 2, when the USMNT plays Honduras.
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Dortmund play Bayer Leverkusen on February 6 and then Union Berlin on February 13, so Reyna could appear in either game. Even if he went back to training at that time, a raise to match his fitness could extend his free time.
🎙 Pink Frame:
“Manuel Akanji is an option, he has recovered a lot after the operation. We have to see how he reacts to stress, but he looks good. Reyna will not play a role this week and Guerreiro has not trained yet.
– Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) January 13, 2022
Reyna has had several false starts since sustaining the injury, which turned out to be worse than originally feared. The American dressed for Dortmund’s match against Eintracht Frankfurt on January 8 but did not enter the match.
Then, in the run-up to Dortmund’s next game against Freiburg six days later, manager Marco Rose said that while Reyna is “on the right track”, he is not ready to return to the line-up just yet.
What games could Reyna miss?
Following Friday’s clash with Freiburg, Dortmund have two more games before the international break: a DFB-Pokal match against second-tier St. Pauli on January 18, plus a Bundesliga match against Hoffenheim on January 22.
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Reyna is not expected to be on the roster to be appointed by USMNT chief Gregg Berhalter for the next three World Cup qualifying matches, which will take place on January 27, 30 and February 2 against El Salvador. , Canada and Honduras, respectively.
Once the players return to Germany for the resumption of the club season, the aforementioned games against Bayer Leverkusen and Union Berlin until the beginning of February are the next matches. There is a big Europa League knockout stage match against Rangers on February 17 before a critical Bundesliga match against Gladbach on February 20. If his injury keeps him out any longer, the season becomes truly lost for Reyna.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.