By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – United States defender Tim Ream said the national team had moved on from an ugly saga involving the federation and team mate Gio Reyna, ahead of Friday’s CONCACAF Nations League game against Grenada.
U.S. Soccer was embroiled in turmoil after returning from the World Cup in Qatar when a bitter dispute broke out between former coach Gregg Berhalter, U.S. midfielder Reyna and his parents.
Berhalter, whose contract expired on Dec. 31 but remains a candidate to be rehired, made remarks criticising Reyna’s commitment to the team at the tournament, saying that he even considered sending him home.
Reyna’s mother, Danielle, said she subsequently informed the federation of a 1992 incident, during which Berhalter admitted that he kicked his now-wife in the legs during a dispute.
That prompted an investigation by U.S. Soccer, which said last week that the incident would not prevent the body from rehiring Berhalter.
Interim head coach Anthony Hudson named Reyna to the 24-man squad as the Americans seek to reach the CONCACAF Nations League Final Four.
“What’s happened with Gio in the past is in the past and what happened at the World Cup happened at the World Cup and we moved on from that as players,” Ream told reporters on Tuesday.
“The biggest thing for us as a leadership and all the guys in camp is to see that he’s working hard, training hard, that he’s wanting to be here. Up to this point it’s been nothing but positive.”
Ream, 35, said that he had private conversations with the 20-year-old Borussia Dortmund midfielder but would keep those private “to allow him to move past everything that’s happened”.
“It’s important for all of us to be able to move past that and work together,” he added.
Hudson said in remarks provided by U.S. Soccer last week that Reyna was “a part of our program”.
“He’s a good guy and a top talent and he is evaluated like any other player,” he said.
The United States play Grenada away on Friday in St. George’s and at home in Orlando, Florida, against El Salvador on March 27.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Toby Davis)
