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Gio Reyna has capped his breakthrough year with another accolade. Today, U.S. Soccer announced that Reyna has been voted the 2020 Young Male Player of the Year. It’s the 18-year-old’s first time winning the award after being nominated the past 3 years for the award.
In 2020, Reyna was able to first break into the lineup for the first team at Borussia Dortmund, and did not take long to score his first professional goal in the DFB-Pokal on February 4th. He would have made his debut for the United States Men’s National Team during their scheduled March friendlies, but those matches were canceled after the coronavirus outbreak forced a shutdown of most major sports leagues and competitions.
After the Bundesliga restart in June, Gio Reyna became a mainstay on the field for the Black & Yellow. So far during the 2020-2021 season, he has appeared in all of Dortmund’s 13 matches, starting 10 of them and contributing 3 goals and 4 assists.
That success finally earned him a call-up to the USMNT in November, where he made the start against Wales and Panama. He scored the opening goal for the USMNT against Panama on a free kick, becoming the 3rd-youngest goal scorer in USMNT history. He and Yunus Musah became the 12th and 13th players to earn their first cap before the age of 18.
Gio Reyna had an amazing first year as a professional with @BlackYellow and left a great first impression with the #USMNT in November.
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) December 22, 2020
Guess what... he's only 18!
>> https://t.co/H5o0XEVWmn pic.twitter.com/yuPCbwpTds
Congratulations to Gio Reyna on winning the Young Player of the Year!