American Gio Reyna, 16, Scores In BVB U-19 Debut — His 14-Year-Old Teammate Scored Six

Giovanni Reyna made quite an impression in his competitive debut with the Borussia Dortmund U-19 squad. It just wasn’t as good as his younger teammate.

Reyna, a 16-year-old American, scored in the first minute of Dortmund’s 9-2 win over Wuppertaler SV in the U-19 Bundesliga season opener on Sunday. His 14-year-old teammate, Youssoufa Moukoko, did even better, scoring six goals in his U-19 debut.

We’ve written about Moukoko plenty in the past, dating back to when he was a 12-year-old playing for the BVB U-17s. He scored an absurd 50 goals in 28 games during the 2018-19 season and inked a deal with Nike, all before turning 15.

It is legitimately frightening how quickly this young man has progressed and with such insane stats. On Sunday, he had a hat trick within 27 minutes. He completed his second hat trick in the 90th minute after he put away a rebound of his own penalty miss. 

But Moukoko is a Germany international (though he was born in Cameroon). Reyna is an American (though he was born in England). 

Reyna has been a player to watch for many years now seeing as he’s the son of Claudio Reyna, one of the best midfielders the U.S. has ever produced. 

Earlier this year, Gio Reyna, a dynamic attacking midfielder, helped the USMNT qualify for the U-17 World Cup before joining Borussia Dortmund at the same age Christian Pulisic joined the German club. He impressed in preseason, even appearing with the senior team, but the real matches are where he’ll need to make a case to be included in the first team during the regular season sooner rather than later. (Pulisic made his senior BVB debut at age 17.)

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Reyna did just that on Sunday, showing his quickness on the ball to get around his defender and go one-on-one with the goalkeeper, who he beat with aplomb. 

Gio Reyna’s goal for Borussia Dortmund’s U19s today  pic.twitter.com/zN87UWg5vP

— Future USMNT (@FutureUsmnt) August 11, 2019

Reyna added a couple assists (to Moukoko, of course) as Borussia Dortmund cruised to an easy win. 

It was a good weekend for young Americans in Germany. Uly Llanez, an 18-year-old California native, had a pair of goals in the U-19 league, helping Wolfsburg beat St. Pauli 5-1. 

Gio Reyna and Uly Llanez combined for three goals and three assists over the weekend in Bundesliga A-Junioren action. Highlights: pic.twitter.com/XJUhkqiYSO

— Travis Clark (@travismclark) August 12, 2019