U.S. men’s national team star midfielder Giovanni Reyna dazzled in his debut with new club side Strasbourg of French Ligue 1, a much-needed reset for the 23-year-old.

Reyna came on at halftime at St. James’ Park in Sunday’s friendly against Newcastle United as his side was already down 1–0. Just past the hour mark, the American facilitated Strasbourg’s equalizer, playing a quick forward pass to Gessime Yassine inside the box, who easily buried the ball into the upper corner of the net. Reyna simply threw his arms up with pride after the play, which wound up being all the French team needed to push the game into a penalty shootout, which it won, 3–2.

He will now feel confident heading into Strasbourg’s first official match of the season, which comes against Marseille on Friday.

The player, son of USMNT legendary captain Claudio Reyna, signed from Borussia Mönchengladbach to Strasbourg on a five-year deal earlier this month for a reported fee of $3.5 million (€3 million). Reyna, plagued with muscular issues and an incessant inability to showcase his best version, had spent more time on the bench than on the pitch at Mönchengladbach last season. He was in desperate need of a change.

He made just 19 leagues appearances—only four starts—last year across 509 minutes, notching one goal and one assist in what was supposed to a fresh start in and of itself. He had inked a three-year deal the previous August with the Bundesliga side through 2028 after a slew of lackluster seasons at league rival Borussia Dortmund, as well as a failed loan stint at Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. Reyna finds himself once again in a new place and will hope the move to France is the one that lasts.

Despite his anonymity last club season, his stock—for Strasbourg and beyond—actually rose this summer at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on home soil. He appeared in all five matches for the USMNT, as manager Mauricio Pochettino refused to let Reyna’s club status influence his international potential. The Argentine boss consistently sang his praises, calling him, “a very special talent and very special player.”

History Is on Giovanni Reyna’s Side

Reyna is actually no stranger to rewriting his own script, something that should give him even more confidence heading into this new club venture.

Most prominently, he worked his way back into the heart of the USMNT—quite the challenge considering the terms on which he left—making any similar obstacle at the club level seem easily surmountable.

Reyna, despite initially pegged to be the bright future of the USMNT and a key member of the team’s “golden generation,” went largely unused in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to the shock of many. In the wake of the tournament, reports soon emerged of the 20-year-old having a poor attitude and a lack of effort in training, with then-manager Gregg Berhalter even stating that he was close to sending Reyna home mid-tournament.

The reports painted Reyna in a negative light, but things turned even uglier from there, to no fault of Reyna himself. Reyna’s parents, Claudio and Danielle—longtime friends of the Berhalters—got involved, not only to communicate with U.S. Soccer over their son’s limited playing time, but also to report an incident between Berhalter and his now wife Rosalind that happened when all four of them were in college.

It opened a long investigation into Berhalter, whose contract was ultimately not renewed following the 2022 World Cup, and instigated ugly tensions between the two American soccer families for years. Reyna’s name and image was tainted in the U.S. Soccer world, especially after Berhalter was eventually rehired in 2023, and it looked as if he may never return to the international stage.

It took years for Reyna to restore his place, as well as the willingness of Pochettino to give him a second chance. Reyna was ultimately successful, serving a key role off the bench for the Stars and Stripes this summer. He seems likely to be included in the upcoming international windows as well.