“Soccer” as it’s referred to, is a sport developing quickly in the United States. The image of the sport is moving away from the mini vans and soccer moms towards an exciting sport which is immensely popular among teenagers. Claudio Reyna, ex-Manchester City midfielder is one of the men causing this change in attitude in the USA.
There’s been a boom in the interest in football stateside. For starters, the ever-growing Hispanic population in America has brought thousands of passionate football fans. The World Cup and NBC’s coverage of the Premier League has made football more accessible too.
Every reaction has a catalyst and football is no different. It needed someone to get the ball rolling, literally. The face of football in the United States is constantly changing. Whether it be the international celebrity, Beckham, or the coach bringing about a change, Jurgen Klinsmann, someone is always at the top, in the spotlight. A figure which has consistently lurked in the football shadows in America is Claudio Reyna.
Claudio Reyna is one of the players who played for Manchester City in the period just before the takeover, and is fondly remembered by the fans. Joining City late in the summer 2003 transfer window for 2.5 million led to him playing 87 times until he left in 2007. He even made a few appearances in European football in his first season. He scored 4 times during his stay in Manchester before returning to America to end his playing career.
Reyna has been subtly influencing “soccer” as the United States knows it today for years now. For starters, Reyna was the captain at Wolfsburg – the first American to captain a European side. This drew attention to the Bundesliga from American fans, something that they may not have paid much attention to before. Players like Clint Dempsey spending several years in the Premier League also helps in this regard, as well as Landon Donovan making loan moves to Everton in the American off-season in recent years.
Reyna has consistently been a fan favourite wherever his career paths led and he even captained the US national team, going on to make 111 caps and scoring 8 goals over a period of 12 years (he retired in 2006). Reyna was also only the third American to make the World Cup all-tournament team.
Reyna has been breaking down walls and creating paths for fellow Americans and now it is time for him continue his work away from the spotlight, this time with newly-founded side New York City Football Club. Reyna is now the Sporting Director for the club owned by Manchester City (the majority shareholders) and baseball team New York Yankees (the minority shareholders). Reyna and company have the difficult job of assembling a side before the beginning of the season, which is no easy feat considering they’ve only been a side for just over a year. Two big names have already entered themselves into the squad for the next MLS season, the duo being David Villa and Frank Lampard. The former being loaned to Melbourne City while the latter heads back to England on loan to play for Manchester City until mid-January.
Claudio Reyna is at the top of what he described as a “great project.” There’s a real opportunity to advance football in the United States with the founding of New York City Football Club and Reyna is at the forefront of it all. Being the sporting director, he’ll have the influence to make decisions to hopefully benefit the club in the long run, and by extension the rest of the City Football Group.
