Sunderland-Born Giovanni Reyna Selected for World Cup

Giovanni Reyna, 19, plays for Borussia Dortmund and was born in Washington, Sunderland in 2002. His father Claudio Reyna played for Sunderland AFC and they eventually moved to the USA after Claudio was transferred to the New York Red Bulls in 2007.

Although representing the US in Qatar this year, England sparked interest in attempting to lure Reyna to the Three Lions. Having dual citizenship in England and the United States, Reyna decided to stay and represent the same team his father did.

Giovanni kept his connection to the UK after he was enrolled into the New York City FC academy. NYCFC, as well as Manchester City, are both owned by City Football Group, the same company that owns the Yankee Global Enterprise.

Reyna will look to impress his club, country and his place of birth. He goes into Qatar with two goals for Dortmund this season and four for the US during the Octagonal phase of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

Sunderland City Councillor Dianne Snowdon had this to say about the native-born forward: “Thank you for making me aware of Giovanni, I remember his father playing for Sunderland in the early 2000s but was not ware of Giovanni’s sporting finesse.

“I hope he has a brilliant tournament, I wasn’t planning on following the World Cup, but you may just have given me a reason to follow Giovanni and his championship.”

Sunderland City Council gave the following statement: “As a city with such a strong passion for football, we’ve always had many connections to the World Cup over the years from hosting games to the players with strong links to Sunderland.

“We wish players and teams well and that they all enjoy the tournament.”

Giovanni will look to start all three games during the group stage at this years FIFA World Cup.

He will look to lead the USMNT against Wales for an opening affair to the campaign. He will then take on the country he was born in, England, as his second fixture. The US will close their group stage against Iran and will look to advance out of the Group of Death as all four nations are within the top 20 on FIFA’s final ranking before the World Cup.