Gio Reyna persecuted his father Claudio by playing Azteca

MEXICO CITY (AP) – A day before his only match at Estadio Azteca, Claudio Reyna witnessed the rise of US football and the competition the Americans created in their intense rivalry with Mexico.

“I think it’s a little offensive to them because football is the only sport in this country,” the US captain said in 2005.

His son Gio got a chance to play for Azteca for the first time Thursday night when the USA faced El Tri at the start of the last trio of World Cup qualifiers.

Claudio’s last national team appearance was a 2006 World Cup loss against Ghana, so Gio’s father was never seen for the Stars & Stripes.

“My dad retired from the national team when I was only 3 or 4,” the 19-year-old Gio said Tuesday in Houston, where the Americans were training. “But he told me about it. I understand I heard it from some guys. I obviously watched a lot of games in Azteca.

Canada leads North and Central America to the Caribbean with 25 points, and the US is second with 21, ahead of Mexico on goal difference. Panama is fourth with 17 points, followed by Costa Rica with 16 and El Salvador with 9. Jamaica and Honduras were eliminated.

The top three nations qualify for the 32-nation field in Qatar in November, and fourth place goes to a June playoff against the Oceania champions, likely New Zealand. If the U.S. qualifies next week, it will likely be in Pot 2 for April 1, but the playoff winner will be in Pot 4, bringing an additional strong opponent and no low-ranked opposition.

“Qualifying for the World Cup is the absolute minimum,” said midfielder Tyler Adams. “We need to do that to move the program forward, to give our players the best opportunity to further develop and to get the international load and to grow the game in the United States.”

The United States failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, lost 2-1 at Trinidad and Tobago in the last qualifier and ended a strike of seven straight appearances in the football showcase.

Part of the American fanbase is wondering about the possibility that the USA will need at least one point of the last qualification this year, in Costa Rica on March 30th. A win Sunday against Panama in Orlando, Florida, would put the U.S. in a position to fight as long as Costa Rica does not beat its last three games against Canada, El Salvador and the United States

Claudio Reyna’s only match at Azteca was a 2-1 loss in a qualifier in 2005. He missed the 1997 and 2001 qualifiers for the yellow card accumulation.

Gio Reyna injured a hamstring injury at the start of last September and has not played for the national team since. Last weekend for Borussia Dortmund, he won his first 90 minute match since last summer.

“I’ve been building a lot of strength in the last two months or three months. So, yeah, I’m pretty confident in my body at the moment,” Gio said. “It was great to come 90 minutes before camp. It gave me a big boost of confidence, knowing I could do it now.

Reyna was an ocean away for most of the qualifiers.

“I was late at 3, 4 o’clock, watching the games in Germany,” he said. “Definitely motivated me to try to get back as soon as possible. Of course, it took longer than I wanted.”

The Mexican Football Federation plans to limit participation to 50,000 in the 87,000-capacity space in an effort to control fans to do anti-gay chants, which FIFA ordered for some qualifiers last fall. to be played in a mostly empty stadium. The federation uses a new fan identification system.

The United States had 12 losses and four draws in qualifying at Azteca, 7,200 feet (2,200 meters). Michael Bradley intercepted goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa from about 40 yards in the sixth minute of 2017, but Carlos Vela struck goalkeeper Brad Guzan with a 23-yard shot to the near post, winning a 1-1 draw. The 2013 qualifier at Azteca was a 0-0 draw.

In addition, the USA will try for the first time to win a fourth straight game against Mexico after victories in the CONCACAF Nations League Final in June, the CONCACAF Gold Cup in August and a World Cup qualifier in Cincinnati in November. However, Mexico has 36 wins in the rivalry and the US 22, with 15 draws.

“The feeling you have when you beat or win a rivalry game is amazing,” Adams said. “So going there and taking care of the business would be important for the group, important for our confidence and obviously to show the strength of the group to go into an away game and win in a tough qualifying cycle.”

___

More AP Soccer: an