Reina: Qualifying for the World Cup depends on my own efforts; I use new strategies to deal with injuries

October 29th U.S. international Giovanni Reyna recently accepted an interview with the media. He talked about his cooperation with former U.S. team coach Berhalter, his goals, injury management and other topics.

Berhalter served as the head coach of the US team twice. In his first term, he led the team to the 2022 World Cup. The US team successfully qualified from the group, but lost to the Netherlands in the 1/8 finals. Reina was selected for the United States' World Cup squad, but did not get any starting opportunities.

When talking about that World Cup, Reyna said: "At the end of the day, I was just frustrated that I didn't have enough opportunities. I had the opportunity to play in Dortmund at the time, and of course I wanted to participate in the World Cup, but in the end I didn't really participate in it, and that was the root of the problem. The frustration and disappointment mainly stemmed from my hope to be able to play and help my country."

"It's been so long ago now that I don't even want to talk about it anymore. (If I had it to do over again) Maybe I would be different in some ways, but I'm not going to sit here and take all the blame on myself, it's not entirely my fault or my family's fault. "

Reina left Dortmund this summer to join Borussia Monchengladbach. So far this season, he has played 4 times in the Bundesliga and only started once, playing a total of 120 minutes. Borussia Monchengladbach has a poor record and is currently ranked last in the Bundesliga.

Reina said: "I do often think about the World Cup. That is the goal I need and hope to achieve. But I try to focus on the club every day, stay focused in the moment, work hard every day and trust that everything will fall into place.

"I think Pochettino said it very clearly: 'You need to go out there and perform well, and if you can do that, then you have a good chance of being selected for the national team again.' So everything depends on me now."

Injury problems have always affected Reina's career, which has also led to his limited playing time this season. Renner said he is taking a more proactive approach to managing his body. And he developed a closer working relationship with his strength and conditioning coach and tried new strategies to deal with the mental challenges of repeated injuries.

Reina said: "I have learned more about my body. The first 24 to 48 hours will always be very uncomfortable, which is inevitable. But I know that after that difficult day or two, despite the pain and low mood, you have to keep going, you have to go all out, and then invest in rehabilitation training."