When he felt the pain in his right hamstring again, the same muscle that required five months of rehabilitation after injuring the first time, Gio Reyna thought the worst. So did his Bundesliga club, Borussia Dortmund, and the U.S. national soccer team staff, which, aside from the opening match, had gone through World Cup qualifying without him.
“It was pretty scary,” Reyna said during an video interview with about a dozen reporters Friday. “The five months were really complicated and really hard. I am happiest when I am playing. So the thought I was maybe going to be out for another extended period of time with the same injury was tough to take in.