Claudio and Danielle Reyna, the parents of U.S. men's national team star Gio Reyna and longtime friends of USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter, told U.S. Soccer about a decades-old domestic violence incident involving Berhalter amid friction between Gio and Berhalter during the 2022 World Cup, according to a Wednesday ESPN report and subsequent statements from the Reynas.
U.S. Soccer revealed Tuesday that it was investigating the incident, and Berhalter revealed details because, he said, an individual had brought them to U.S. Soccer in effort to "take me down."
That individual, according to ESPN, was Claudio Reyna. ESPN reported that Claudio "sent multiple messages to U.S. Soccer executives" threatening to reveal the details after Berhalter told Gio, a 20-year-old attacking midfielder, that he would have a limited on-field role at the World Cup.
Danielle Reyna confirmed in a statement that she reported the early-1990s incident to U.S. Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart shortly after Berhalter's comments about unacceptable behavior from a USMNT player — reportedly Reyna — were mistakenly made public.
Berhalter, in a Tuesday statement that did not name the Reynas, called this “an apparent attempt to leverage something very personal from long ago to bring about the end of my relationship with U.S. Soccer.”
Berhalter admitted that, a few months into his relationship with his then-girlfriend, Rosalind, during what Berhalter called a “heated argument,” he “kicked her in the legs." They were students and soccer players at the University of North Carolina at the time. One of Rosalind's teammates and friends at UNC was Danielle Egan, who years later would marry Claudio Reyna.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
