The mother of USA midfielder Giovanni Reyna has revealed that she was the person who reported head coach Gregg Berhalter for kicking his now wife when they were teenagers.
Berhalter is being investigated by US Soccer after admitting the allegation. Danielle Reyna says she reported the incident to US Soccer on December 11. Giovanni Reyna played just 52 minutes for the USA at the World Cup in Qatar.
Berhalter said during the tournament that an unnamed player was nearly sent home from Qatar for “not meeting expectations on and off the field”.
Borussia Dortmund player Reyna later confirmed Berhalter was talking about him.
The 20-year-old posted on Instagram to say that after he was told he would have a “very limited” role in Qatar and he let it affect his “training and behaviour”.
Danielle Reyna, wife of former US captain Claudio, said it was “unfair” that “people were trashing” her son when Berhalter had done something “much worse at a similar age”.
In a statement on Wednesday, Danielle Reyna said she notified US Soccer about the 1991 incident between Berhalter and his then girlfriend Rosalind.
She said: “I thought it was especially unfair that Gio, who had apologised for acting immaturely about his playing time, was still being dragged through the mud when Gregg had asked for and received forgiveness for doing something so much worse at the same age.”
Berhalter and his wife on Tuesday put out a lengthy statement saying someone had alerted US Soccer in an effort to "take me down”.
He acknowledged that he had kicked his now wife in the legs in what he called a “shameful” incident.
