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Claudio Reyna

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Claudio Reyna
Reyna with the New York Red Bulls in 2008
Personal information
Date of birth (1973-07-20) July 20, 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth Livingston, New Jersey, U.S.
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1988–1991 St. Benedict's Gray Bees
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1993 Virginia Cavaliers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1999 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 26 (0)
1997–1999 → VfL Wolfsburg (loan) 48 (6)
1999–2001 Rangers 64 (10)
2001–2003 Sunderland 28 (3)
2003–2007 Manchester City 87 (4)
2007–2008 New York Red Bulls 29 (0)
Total 282 (23)
International career
1994–2006 United States 112 (8)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  United States
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Runner-up 1998 United States
Third place 1996 United States
Third place 2003 United States-Mexico
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1991 Havana Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Claudio Alejandro Reyna (born July 20, 1973) is an American former professional soccer player and former executive. He most recently served as sporting director of Austin FC.

A former midfielder, he spent most of his professional career in Europe, playing in the Bundesliga for Bayer 04 Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg, the Premier League for Sunderland and Manchester City, and in the Scottish Premier League for Rangers. He finished his career in 2008 for New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer, where he was team captain.[2]

Reyna earned 112 caps for the United States men's national team from 1994 to 2006, being selected for four FIFA World Cups and retiring from the team after the 2006 edition. He was also chosen for two Olympic tournaments, four CONCACAF Gold Cups and the 1995 Copa América. He was named in the Team of the Tournament for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2012.

Following retirement, Reyna continued his association with the City Football Group and became technical director of New York City FC in 2013, a position he held until 2019 before joining Austin FC in a similar position, where he remained until 2023.

Early life

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Reyna's father Miguel moved to the United States in 1968 from Argentina, where he had gone through the youth system of Independiente and played professionally with Los Andes.[3] He settled in Springfield Township, New Jersey in the 1970s.[4] Reyna was born in Livingston, New Jersey, where he learned the game from his father.[5]

Club career

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Early career

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In New Jersey, Reyna became a youth player at Jonathan Dayton High School[6] and then transferred to Saint Benedict's Preparatory School, where he was a teammate of Gregg Berhalter and Robert Ducey, before he graduated from St. Benedict's in 1991. During Reyna's three years with the team, St Benedict's went undefeated (65–0) while Reyna was named as the only two-time Parade Magazine's national high school Player of the Year and the Gatorade National Player of the Year. In 1999, he was named by The Star-Ledger as one of the top ten New Jersey high school soccer players of the 1990s.[7]

Highly recruited out of high school, Reyna elected to attend the University of Virginia from 1991 to 1993 on a full scholarship. While at Virginia, he spent three seasons on the men's soccer team, coached by future U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena. The Cavaliers won the NCAA Championship each of his three seasons. On an individual level, Reyna won the Hermann Trophy in 1993[8] and the MAC Award in 1992 and 1993;[9] and was named the 1992 and 1993 Soccer America Player of the Year.[10] In 2000, the magazine placed him on its Team of the Century and named him the Male Player of the Century.[11]

Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg

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On August 8, 1994, Reyna signed with German Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverkusen after playing in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He had difficulty finding playing time with the Leverkusen first team, making only five appearances. Leverkusen loaned Reyna to fellow Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg in July 1997. He quickly established himself in Wolfsburg's first team where he became the first American to captain a European club.[12]

He was halfway through his second year with Wolfsburg when Scottish Premier League club Rangers expressed an interest in Reyna.

Rangers

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On April 1, 1999, Rangers paid $826,400 to Wolfsburg and $2.76 million to Leverkusen for Reyna. Reyna would remain with Rangers until December 2001. Despite building his reputation in Germany and on the national team as a creative midfielder, he spent most of his years at Rangers playing right midfield. He scored thirteen goals for the Ibrox club in all competitions, one of the most notable was a strike that proved decisive over Italian club Parma for qualification for the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League. He played for Rangers during the September 11 attacks; a Celtic fan at an Old Firm match in October 2001 was caught on camera making aeroplane gestures, for which the fan was much criticised, later apologising.[13]

Sunderland

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On December 7, 2001, Reyna signed a five-year contract at Sunderland in England's Premier League, for a fee of £4 million. He completed the deal minutes before the midday deadline, having played for Rangers in the UEFA Cup at Paris Saint-Germain the night before.[14]

Reyna made his debut on December 15, starting in a 2–0 loss at Southampton in place of the injured Julio Arca, and had a 20-yard first-half shot saved by Paul Jones.[15] A week later, he scored the only goal of the game against Everton, in his first game at the Stadium of Light.[16] On April 1, 2002, he scored twice in a 2–1 home win over Leicester City in which all goals were scored in the first 18 minutes;[17] twelve days later he was sent off at the end of a loss to visitors Liverpool for a foul on goalscorer Michael Owen.[18]

In October 2002, Reyna injured the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee against Bolton Wanderers, ruling him out for six months and ending his season.[19]

Manchester City

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Reyna joined Manchester City on August 29, 2003, for £2.5 million after a move on the same fee to Fulham collapsed.[20]

Reyna's time at City was frequently punctuated by injury, restricting him to thirty appearances in his first season with the club, and causing him to miss six months of the 2004–05 season. In three and a half seasons at the City of Manchester Stadium, Reyna made 87 appearances, scoring four goals.[21]

On January 11, 2007, Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce announced that the club had agreed to terminate Reyna's contract with a view to a move to Major League Soccer for family reasons. This was finalized on January 23, 2007.[22][23]

New York Red Bulls

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On January 24, 2007, Reyna signed with New York Red Bulls, where he rejoined his former University of Virginia and U.S. national team head coach Bruce Arena.[2] However, much like his years in Britain, Reyna was almost constantly bothered by injuries. He only played in twenty-seven games during two years with New York and only six games in 2008 as he rehabilitated a herniated disc. Reyna announced his professional retirement on July 16, 2008.[24]

International career

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Reyna practicing with the U.S. national soccer team in 2006.

As a U.S. national player, Reyna got his first cap against Norway on January 15, 1994. He was a member of the team at the 1994 FIFA World Cup on home turf, but did not play due to a hamstring injury.[25] Reyna did play in the 1998, 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups.

In 2002, despite sitting out the opening 3–2 upset win over Portugal due to injury, he was a key contributor in the next three U.S. games — a tie against South Korea, a loss to Poland, and a win over CONCACAF rival Mexico. In the quarterfinals, the U.S. lost to eventual runner-up Germany. He was named to the World Cup all-tournament team, the first American to do so.[26]

In 2006, Reyna again captained the U.S. at the World Cup in Germany. Trailing 1–0 in the opener against the Czech Republic, Reyna fired a 30-yard shot that bounced off the post, the best American chance in the game. In the final group game against Ghana, Reyna suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament when he lost the ball to Haminu Draman[27] who then dribbled in alone and scored Ghana's first goal.

On June 23, 2006, the day after the U.S. was eliminated from the World Cup, Reyna announced his retirement from the national team. He ended his international career with 111 caps and eight goals.[28]

Reyna also represented the U.S. at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

In Great Britain, he was occasionally referred to as Captain America because of his status as captain of the U.S. national team.[29]

Club Executive

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New York City FC

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On May 22, 2013, Reyna was appointed Sporting Director of MLS expansion team New York City FC.[30] New York City FC made the conference semifinals four of the five years that Reyna was the Sporting Director. Between 2016 and 2019, New York City FC accumulated 231 points, the most of any team in the league during that time. Reyna left the club in November 2019.[31]

Austin FC

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On November 21, 2019, Reyna was named Sporting Director of another MLS expansion team, Austin FC. Reyna led the club in its 2021 inaugural season with his former US national team teammate, Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff.[32] He guided the club through their first two seasons of existence, including an MLS Western Conference Finals appearance in 2022.

On January 26, 2023, Reyna resigned from his role as sporting director amid a personal scandal, remaining as a technical advisor for the club.[33] He had left the club entirely by April 17, 2023.[34]

Personal life

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Reyna married Danielle Egan, then a member of the United States women's national soccer team, in July 1997, one week after attending the FIFA All-Star Game in Hong Kong and two weeks after the U.S. team's World Cup qualifier at El Salvador. They had four children: Jack (1999–2012), Giovanni (born 2002), Joah-Mikel, and Carolina. Jack died of brain cancer in 2012.[35][36] Giovanni, named after former Rangers teammate Giovanni van Bronckhorst,[37] transferred from the New York City FC development academy to Borussia Dortmund's academy in November 2018.[38] The family resided for a time in Bedford, New York.[39][40]

In February 2012, Reyna and fellow New Jersey native Tony Meola were elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame, with Reyna named on 96% of the ballots.[41]

Reyna speaks fluent English and Spanish and is conversational in German.[42]

During and after the 2022 World Cup, Claudio and Danielle Reyna were reported to have intervened with the United States Soccer Federation, making "veiled threats" in an attempt to get Giovanni additional playing time and better treatment with the United States national team, and even attempting to blackmail then-coach Gregg Berhalter.[43] One US Soccer staffer characterized Reyna's interactions as "inappropriate," "bullying" and "mean-spirited." A report by the USSF found that that facts gathered during the investigation "might raise a question about whether Mr Reyna's communications with US Soccer officials are violative of the FIFA Code of Ethics and its rule against abuse of position".[44] As a result of the scandal, Reyna stepped down from his position at Austin FC, and the USSF re-wrote its guidelines to limit parent/coach interactions.[45] The couple's actions have been criticized as a case of American soccer elitism.[46][47][48][49]

Career statistics

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International

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Scores and results list the United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Reyna goal.
List of international goals scored by Claudio Reyna
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 April 20, 1994 Davidson, North Carolina, United States  Moldova 3–0 3–0 Friendly
2 May 7, 1994 Fullerton, California, United States  Estonia 2–0 4–0 Friendly
3 June 18, 1995 Washington, D.C., United States  Mexico 4–0 4–0 Friendly
4 June 9, 1996 Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States  Ireland 2–0 2–0 Friendly
5 November 9, 1997 Vancouver, Canada  Canada 1–0 3–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying
6 April 22, 1998 Vienna, Austria  Austria 3–0 3–0 Friendly
7 February 6, 1999 Jacksonville, Florida, United States  Germany 3–0 3–0 Friendly
8 June 3, 2000 Washington, D.C., United States  South Africa 3–0 4–0 Friendly

Honors

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Rangers

Individual

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Claudio Reyna". US Football. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Nierman, Jonathan (January 24, 2007). "Reyna coming home to join Bulls". MLSnet.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2007.
  3. ^ http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?ART_ID=562138757 [dead link‍]
  4. ^ Whiteside, Kelly. /worldcup/2006-05-31-reyna-focus_x.htm "USA's Reyna personifies perseverance", USA Today, June 2, 2006. Accessed October 9, 2015. "Reyna's father, Miguel, is from Argentina, where he played professionally. His parents immigrated to New Jersey in the late 1950s, then settled a decade later in Springfield, N.J., where Reyna was raised."
  5. ^ Trecker, Jerry (January 16, 1994). "WORLD CUP '94 Making A Quick Point Newcomers, one local, help USA over Norway". Newsday. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2013. Chasing down a long throw from former Blau-Weiss Gottschee star Dario Brose, [Claudio Reyna], the 1993 College Player of the Year from the University of Virginia and Livingston, N.J., slammed a hard shot at Norway goalkeeper Frode Grodas to create a game-winning rebound chance for Cobi Jones as the United States defeated Norway, 2–1, in Sun Devil Stadium yesterday to begin its 1994 World Cup preparation with an upset triumph.
  6. ^ "Parade honors Reyna", Mountainside Echo, February 15, 1990. Accessed January 18, 2023. "Claudio Reyna of Springfield, a former student at Jonathan Dayton Regional High, was one of three players from New Jersey to be named to the 12th annual Parade Magazine All-America High School Soccer Team."
  7. ^ Jandoli, Ron (November 7, 1999). "Top 10 Players of each decade". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on January 10, 2003. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  8. ^ "Winners". MAC Hermann Trophy. May 9, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  9. ^ "Claudio Reyna". MAC Hermann Trophy. May 9, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  10. ^ "Maryland's Mullins repeats as Men's Player of the Year". www.socceramerica.com. January 15, 2014. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  11. ^ "Claudio Reyna S". www.njsportsheroes.com. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  12. ^ "Claudio Reyna". Society for American Soccer History. June 17, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  13. ^ "Fan 'sorry' for plane gesture". October 2001.
  14. ^ "Reyna completes £4m Sunderland move". The Guardian. December 7, 2001. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  15. ^ Cox, Gerry (December 16, 2001). "Craddock cooks his own goose". The Guardian. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  16. ^ Wardle, John (December 23, 2001). "Claudio clears clouds". The Guardian. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  17. ^ "Reyna rallies Sunderland". BBC Sport. April 1, 2002. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  18. ^ "Owen stuns Sunderland". BBC Sport. April 13, 2002. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  19. ^ "Reyna out for six months". World Soccer. November 1, 2002. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  20. ^ "REYNA SEALS CITY SWITCH". Archived from the original on October 2, 2013.
  21. ^ Leigh, Neil. "WORLD CUP A-Z: R IS FOR REYNA". Manchester City F.C.
  22. ^ "Pearce confirms Reyna request". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on January 13, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2007.
  23. ^ "Man City agree to release Reyna". BBC Sport. January 23, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  24. ^ Butler, Dylan (July 15, 2008). "Reyna announces his retirement". MLSnet.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
  25. ^ Archives, L. A. Times (June 24, 1994). "Hamstring Injury Will Keep Reyna Out of World Cup". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  26. ^ a b "Claudio Reyna honored as World Cup All-Star". Virginia Sports. July 3, 2002. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  27. ^ Davidson, Gary; Wagman, Robert; Courtney, Chris (June 22, 2006). "Ghana uses disputed penalty kick to end American World Cup 2–1". Soccer Times. Archived from the original on October 28, 2007. Retrieved November 27, 2007.
  28. ^ "Reyna, Claudio". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
  29. ^ Canavan, Tom (January 24, 2007). "Claudio Reyna Signs With Red Bulls". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  30. ^ "New York City Football Club have named Claudio Reyna as the club's Sporting Director | New York City FC". Archived from the original on September 1, 2014.
  31. ^ FC, New York City. "Claudio Reyna Departs New York City FC to Join Austin FC; Technical Director David Lee Promoted to Sporting Director". New York City FC. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  32. ^ https://austinfc.cdn.prismic.io/austinfc/fca002c3-1713-4200-95c9-a7429f2b4432_2CLAUDIO+REYNA+NAMED+SPORTING+DIRECTOR+FOR+AUSTIN+FC+IN+HISTORIC+APPOINTMENT.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  33. ^ "Claudio Reyna Resigns as Sporting Director; Reyna to Continue with Austin FC as Technical Advisor | Austin FC".
  34. ^ "Claudio Reyna leaves Technical Advisor role at Austin FC, severing all ties to the club". capitalcitysoccer.com. Capital City Soccer. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  35. ^ "Former U.S. soccer star Claudio Reyna's son Jack loses his battle with cancer". Sports Illustrated. July 20, 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  36. ^ "Obituary of Jack Egan Reyna | Sinatra Memorial Home".
  37. ^ "Giovanni Reyna | U.S. Soccer Official Website". www.ussoccer.com. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  38. ^ Galarcep, Ives (August 16, 2018). "Sources: U.S. U-17 standout Reyna to join Borussia Dortmund academy". Goal.com. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  39. ^ "Insider: U.S. prospect Reyna eyes '18 move to Europe". SI.com. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  40. ^ "Club Saddened By News". Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  41. ^ Giase, Frank (March 1, 2022). "Tony Meola, Claudio Reyna a pair of New Jersey natives reunited by the Soccer Hall of Fame". NJ.com. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  42. ^ "Claudio Reyna named sporting director for Austin FC in historic appointment" (PDF). Austin FC. November 21, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  43. ^ Kramer, Jenny. "Alston & Bird's Report to the U.S. Soccer Federation". U.S. Soccer. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  44. ^ "Berhalter 'remains candidate' to be US coach". BBC Sport.
  45. ^ Carlisle, Jeff (March 13, 2023). "Explained: What's next after U.S. Soccer finds Claudio Reyna 'bullying,' Gregg Berhalter told truth, more". ESPN Soccer. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  46. ^ Fleming, Kirsten (March 16, 2023). "Claudio, Danielle Reyna latest example of terrible sports parents in USMNT scandal". New York Post. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  47. ^ Tasch, Justin (January 5, 2023). "Ex-USMNT stars rip Claudio, Danielle Reyna over Berhalter scandal". New York Post. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  48. ^ Lewis, Michael (January 4, 2023). "THE PLOT SICKENS: Report: Danielle Reyna admits she told U.S. Soccer about Berhalter violence incident". Front Row Soccer. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  49. ^ Layton, Jeremy (January 4, 2023). "Claudio Reyna, wife exposed in alleged Gregg Berhalter World Cup blackmail attempt". New York Post. Retrieved March 21, 2023.

Book

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Claudio Reyna.
Sporting positions
Preceded by United States captain
1998–2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by New York Red Bulls captain
2007–2008 		Succeeded by
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