The FIFA Club World Cup is coming to the United States this summer for its first edition in its new expanded format. Gio Reyna was not included in the USMNT roster for the Gold Cup as he is set to feature for Borussia Dortmund at the Club World Cup. However, Reyna has lacked game time for Niko Kovač's side recently, so it is uncertain how much we will see of him at the tournament.
Speaking on a Zoom call, Kovač responded to a question about Reyna, saying, "Gio is a player of Dortmund since four or five years. He is a part of my team at the moment. Gio is for sure a player who didn't play so much, but we know exactly his strengths but we have top players here in the squad. So the confidence is very big, so hopefully every player can get minutes, but I can't promise you this is depending also on the results, also injuries, but my ambition is to give every player minutes. But this is always in relation to the results."
It would be fitting for Reyna to feature in Dortmund's first match of the tournament against Fluminense at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Reyna was born in Sunderland, England, when his father Claudio was playing for the city's team. However, the family moved back to the United States when he transferred to the New York Red Bulls. Gio grew up in New York and played for NYCFC's youth academy before joining Dortmund. It would be fitting for Reyna to play for Dortmund, not too far from where he spent most of his childhood.
This could be a special homecoming for Gio Reyna
Kovač is a very experienced coach who has also managed Croatia, Bayern Munich, AS Monaco, Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt. Therefore, he is not going to let sentimentality rule a decision in a competitive match. Dortmund will also face Mamelodi Sundowns and Ulsan HD, in Cincinnati to complete their group.
Cincinnati has a large portion of people with German heritage, which Kovač knows and believes that it could work in Dortmund's favor. "Hopefully, this will be a boost for us, in these two games. We are arriving to Cincinnati to play two important games, so there will be no time for sightseeing. If we come on holiday to America, we can visit Cincinnati in another way."
Talking about his Group F fixtures, Kovač is concerned about his players suffering from jet lag and hopes, as a minimum, that they get out of the group. The manager also knows his opposition's strengths. "We have three different types of play, the Brazilian one, the ball possession one. The Korean one, they are all aggressive; they are fast and quick. The South African, I would say they are a little bit to the side of the Brazilian team. All of the four teams will prepare everything to the highest level."
When asked about playing in the United States, Kovač said, "America is a big country and there is a lot of, as you may say, 'soccer fans.' We are talking here about football, so I can imagine the stadiums they will be filled, but maybe not fully filled. For us as a brand, as BVB, we are one of the two German teams (along with Bayern) playing at this tournament, so we can show our colors, our qualities, and we have very talented and experienced players. Hopefully, we can show the best play that we are able to do.
"I like this format, it is the first time to play in the tournament, and it means a lot for me personally as a coach, but also to my players. A lot of people in the world will watch this tournament because nobody knows how it goes."
The Dortmund manager was also a very accomplished player. He represented Croatia 83 times, whilst also playing for Bayern, Hertha Berlin, Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburg and Red Bull Salzburg. Kovač won the Intercontinental Cup with Bayern back in 2001. His side defeated Boca Juniors 1-0 in extra-time to win that prize.
Kovač will be hoping for his side to emulate his success against international opposition as a player. "We are there to compete, we want to be successful, which means winning games and pass into the next round. We are taking this tournament very seriously. We are preparing everything so after our championship (Bundesliga), we had two weeks off, some of our players went to their national teams, to play in the (World Cup) qualification games and Nations League games.
"So we are now collecting the players. Today is the last training session, tomorrow is a day off, and on Friday we are travelling (to Fort Lauderdale). Hopefully, we are all healthy, we still have three players injured, they will not join this tournament, but as all the other teams, we are taking it seriously. You can earn a lot of money, which is important for Ulsan, for the Sundowns and Fuminense."