Gio Reyna broke a very long personal scoreless streak on Saturday, (Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports)

By Michael Lewis

FrontRowSoccer.com Editor

Gio Reyna dropped to the ground, not withering in pain from another but in ecstasy.

The U.S. men’s national team midfielder-forward was celebrating, celebrating his first goal, a brilliant one at that, in more than a year for Borussia Dortmund in its 5-0 triumph over Stuttgart on Saturday.

If you’re counting, it had been 421 days since he tallied a goal for the Bundesliga club – on Aug. 21, 2021.

In his third start for Dortmund and first since Sept. 14 this season, Reyna drilled a 12-yard shot from the left side of the penalty area off a feed by Youssoufa Moukoko after a nice passing sequence past goalkeeper Florian Muller into the far right corner in the 44th minute. The goal boosted Borussia’s lead to 3-0.

Reyna, 19, endured a difficult 2021-22 season for club and country as an injury he incurred during World Cup qualifying stopped him from playing regularly and finding his rhythm for both teams.

As it turned out, Reyna’s last appearance against Stuttgart ended in tears as he suffered a muscle and tendon injury just after kickoff – ending his season last April.

With the World Cup a month away and the American roster set to be unveiled at Brooklyn Steel in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Nov. 9, U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter had to be encouraged by Reyna’s performance and goal, as he is looking for players in form and with confidence.

No doubt Reyna’s confident was boosted by a mile on Saturday.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.