Giovanni Reyna
Giovanni Alejandro Reyna (born November 13, 2002) is an American professional soccer player who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Borussia Dortmund and the United States national team. He was included in "The Guardian"s "Next Generation 2019". Early life. Reyna was born in Sunderland while his father, Claudio Reyna, was playing for Sunderland A.F.C. His family moved back to the United States, settling in Bedford, New York, in 2007 when Giovanni was five. Giovanni joined the academy team of his hometown club, New York City FC, in 2015 and kept playing with the City FC Academy teams  until 2019 when he moved to Germany to join Borussia Dortmund's academy. Club career. Borussia Dortmund. 2019–21: Breakthrough and DFB-Pokal. On January 18, 2020, Reyna made his Bundesliga debut for Borussia Dortmund, coming on as a substitute in the 72nd minute, in a 5–3 win against FC Augsburg. Hence, he became the youngest American, aged 17 years and 66 days, ever to appear in the Bundesliga, breaking a record previously set by Christian Pulisic. On February 4, Reyna scored his first professional goal in a 3–2 defeat to Werder Bremen in the DFB-Pokal Round of 16. In  doing so, he became the youngest goalscorer in German Cup history. On February 18, 2020, Reyna became the third-youngest player ever to appear in a knockout game of the UEFA Champions League when he came on as a substitute in the 67th minute against Paris Saint-Germain. Nine minutes later, Reyna set up Erling Haaland's game-winning goal for Borussia Dortmund in the second leg of the Round of 16, becoming the youngest American to play and record an assist in a Champions League fixture. On May 16, Reyna was set to start his first Bundesliga match for  Borussia Dortmund in their derby against Schalke, but suffered a calf injury during warm-ups. Reyna returned on May 23 and played in the final 11 minutes of a 2–0 victory at VfL Wolfsburg. On September 14, 2020, Reyna started in a DFB-Pokal match and scored with a free kick in a 5–0 win against MSV Duisburg. On September 19, 2020, Reyna scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 3–0 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach, aged 17 years and 311 days, to become the second youngest American scorer in Bundesliga behind Christian Pulisic, aged 17 years and 211 days. On  October 3, 2020, in his third league appearance of the 2020–21 season, Reyna assisted 3 goals—a brace to Erling Haaland and an Emre Can header from a corner kick, to beat SC Freiburg 4–0. As a result, Reyna became the first American to record a hat trick of assists in one of the 5 major European leagues since Steve Cherundolo did it for Hannover in March 2008, and the youngest player to ever do so in the Bundesliga. On December 5, Reyna scored his second Bundesliga goal against Eintracht Frankfurt, with a near post finish just inside the 18 -yard box. This goal made him the second youngest American to score twice in the league after current Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic did so for the same club as Reyna, Borussia Dortmund. On December 22, he was voted the U.S. Soccer's Young Male Player of the Year for 2020. Reyna was a second-half substitute for Dortmund in their 4–1 victory over RB Leipzig in the 2021 DFB-Pokal Final on May 13, 2021. His involvement in the match marks him as the youngest American to appear in a domestic cup final in Europe, a record previously held by  his international teammate Christian Pulisic. 2021–22 season. On July 28, 2021, Dortmund announced that Reyna would wear the number 7 shirt for the upcoming season, previously worn by Jadon Sancho. On August 27, he became the youngest player to make 50 Bundesliga appearances during the league match against Hoffenheim. International career. After representing the United States at several youth levels, Reyna received his first call up to the senior United States squad for matches against Wales and Panama in November 2020. On November 12, 2020, a day before his eighteenth birthday, Reyna made his senior national team debut against Wales . In the following game, a 6–2 friendly victory over Panama, Reyna started and scored his first senior goal directly from a free kick. Personal life. Giovanni is the son of former Rangers, Sunderland, Manchester City, New York Red Bulls, and United States player Claudio Reyna, and Danielle Egan, a former member of the United States women's national soccer team. Reyna is of Portuguese and Argentine descent through his father, and of Irish-American descent through his mother. Gio's paternal Grandfather, Miguel Reyna, was from Argentina where he played professionally for Los Andes. Reyna was born in Sunderland, England , while his father was playing for Sunderland. Reyna started his international career by playing with the United States' youth teams, but after impressing with Borussia Dortmund, he attracted interest from the Portuguese, English, and Argentine national teams, for all of which he was eligible to play. Ultimately, in a March 2020 interview with "Sports Illustrated", Reyna declared his intent to play for the United States: "I'm aware of the rumors, but it's quite clear for me. I only want to play for the United States. That's my home country." He was named after his father's former  Rangers teammate Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Honors. Borussia Dortmund United States U17 United States Individual