“We were ready to book a plane ticket home” – USA coach Gregg Berhalter opens up on ‘extreme’ situation involving star player at 2022 FIFA World Cup

United States men's national team coach Gregg Berhalter has opened up about the difficult situation involving Borussia Dortmund man Gio Reyna at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Berhalter, without taking names, claimed that one player was not committed enough, and the management was close to sending him home.

Dortmund forward Reyna only played 52 minutes of football for the USA at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. According to The Athletic, the 20-year-old did not impress in training leading up to USA’s Group B opener against Wales, which saw him getting benched. Frustrated by his treatment, Reyna threw his shin pads.

Speaking at the HOW Institute for Society's Summit on Moral Leadership, Berhalter discussed an unnamed player who was close to being axed at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

“In this last World Cup, we had a player that was clearly not meeting expectations on and off the field,” Berhalter started.

“One of 26 players, so it stood out. As a staff, we sat together for hours deliberating what we were going to do with this player. We were ready to book a plane ticket home, that's how extreme it was. And what it came down to was, we're going to have one more conversation with him, and part of the conversation was how we're going to behave from here out. There aren't going to be any more infractions.”

Berhalter revealed how he asked the player to apologize to the group and also shared how his teammates responded.

“But the other thing we said to him was, you're going to have to apologize to the group, but it's going to have to say why you're apologizing. It's going to have to go deeper than just, 'Guys, I'm sorry.' And I prepped the leadership group with this. I said, 'OK, this guy is going to apologize to you as a group, to the whole team,” Berhalter added.

“And what was fantastic in this whole thing is that after he apologized, they stood up one by one and said, 'Listen, it hasn't been good enough. You haven't been meeting our expectations of a teammate and we want to see change.' They really took ownership of that process. And from that day on there were no issues with this player.”

Reyna played 45 minutes in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Round-of-16 clash against the Netherlands. Unfortunately, the Dortmund ace could not keep his team from succumbing to a 3-1 defeat against the Dutch.

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Virat Kohli pens heartwarming message after Cristiano Ronaldo’s FIFA World Cup exit

Morocco made history when they knocked out their 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-final opponents Portugal on December 10, becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals. The 1-0 defeat to Morocco saw Cristiano Ronaldo crash out of his fifth and possibly final FIFA World Cup.

India cricket superstar Virat Kohli took to Instagram to react to his idol, Ronaldo’s exit, calling him an inspiration for millions around the world. His post read:

“No trophy or any title can take anything away from what you’ve done in this sport and for sports fans around the world. No title can explain the impact you’ve had on people and what I and so many around the world feel when we watch you play. That’s a gift from god.

"A real blessing to a man who plays his heart out every single time and is the epitome of hard work and dedication and a true inspiration for any sportsperson. You are for me the greatest of all time. 🐐👑”

Having eliminated Ronaldo and Co., Morocco will aim to take down defending champions France in the semi-finals on Wednesday (December 14).