It was the perfect night for the United States men’s national team with a 4-1 win over Paraguay in their World Cup opener Friday night. The fourth goal, scored courtesy of a trivela by Gio Reyna, allowed the 23-year-old the “perfect” time to reveal life news.
Reyna ran to the corner to celebrate the goal, followed by his teammates, the U.S. subs, and even manager Mauricio Pochettino. Once the group broke up and began going back to their respective places, the midfielder asked for a ball and proceeded to tuck it under his jersey and stick his thumb in his mouth, the universal soccer sign that a baby is on the way.
Reyna confirmed afterward that his wife, Chloe, is pregnant with the couple’s first child.
“I’ve known for a couple months now,, so I was waiting for the perfect time [to break the news],” Reyna said. “And this sort of felt like it.”
The goal, which came 16 minutes after Reyna was subbed into the game, was his first in a World Cup and the 10th of his international career.
Those around Reyna, which include Chloe and his parents, former U.S. players Claudio and Danielle, had been encouraging him to shoot more when given the opportunity and to "be a bit selfish at times," he said.
The timing couldn’t have been better to heed those words of advice with the U.S. up 3-1 and the match in the dying moments in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time. And it wasn’t just any shot. It was with a trivela where he struck the ball with the outside of his right foot, slicing it across the Paraguay penalty box and past goalkeeper Orlando Gill.
“Honestly, when I’m playing, I’m not really thinking,” Reyna said afterward. “I’m just doing whatever felt natural. I was in a good area, and I got a good pass, and I just saw the angle, far post.”
Reyna’s teammates are used to seeing skill like that from him in training. Pulling it off in a game was a bit of a surprise to some.
“We see stuff from him like that every day,” said Christian Pulisic. “So it’s not like a crazy surprise. And he deserves it. It’s great to see him pull it off in a moment like this.”
The U.S. earned a valuable three points with Folarin Balogun scoring twice and an own goal also contributing to the positive scoreline. Their other two Group D opponents, Australia and Türkiye play Saturday night in Vancouver.
Australia will be the next opponent for the U.S. on Friday night in Seattle.
