Gio Reyna, who grew up in Westchester County’s Bedford, scored the stunning fourth goal in the U.S. men’s national team’s World Cup opener, capping its 4-1 rout of Paraguay on Friday, June 12.
Reyna may get another chance to get on the scoresheet this coming Friday, when the U.S. takes on Australia at 3 p.m. in Seattle.
The Aussies won their cup opener, too, defeating Turkey 2-0. The teams are competing in Group D. The top two in the group are guaranteed to move on to the tournament’s next round.
Reyna was brought in as a sub shortly after the opening match’s 80th minute at southern California’s SoFi Stadium. He scored in the eighth minute of stoppage time just before the game ended.
His goal was a “trivela” — hit with the outside of his foot, which put a curve on the shot.
Reyna’s teammate, Folarin Balogun, scored twice in the match, becoming the only U.S. player to score more than one goal in a World Cup game since the inaugural 1930 cup. The U.S.’s 1930 team included Bert Patenaude, who scored the first hat-trick ever in World Cup history. The team Patenaude did it against in 1930? Paraguay.
The match drew an average of nearly 25 million viewers on Fox, Telemundo and through other streaming, the Athletic reported. That figure is up significantly from the U.S.’s opening 2022 World Cup match, which had an average of nearly 12 million viewers.
Reyna plays his pro soccer for Borussia Monchengladbach, which competes in the top level of Germany’s Bundesliga. A number of the U.S.’s World Cup team are in Europe’s best pro leagues.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Bedford’s Gio Reyna scores in Team USA vs. Paraguay game. What’s next?
Reporting by Michael P. McKinney, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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By Michael P. McKinney, Rockland/Westchester Journal News | USA TODAY Network
