Claudio Reyna
Claudio Reyna
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Claudio Reyna

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Claudio Reyna

Claudio Alejandro Reyna (born July 20, 1973) is an American former professional soccer player and former executive. He most recently served as sporting director of Austin FC.

A former midfielder, he spent most of his professional career in Europe, playing in the Bundesliga for Bayer 04 Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg, the Premier League for Sunderland and Manchester City, and in the Scottish Premier League for Rangers. He finished his career in 2008 for New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer, where he was team captain.

Reyna earned 112 caps for the United States men's national team from 1994 to 2006, being selected for four FIFA World Cups and retiring from the team after the 2006 edition. He was also chosen for two Olympic tournaments, four CONCACAF Gold Cups and the 1995 Copa América. He was named in the Team of the Tournament for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2012.

Following retirement, Reyna continued his association with the City Football Group and became technical director of New York City FC in 2013, a position he held until 2019 before joining Austin FC in a similar position, where he remained until 2023.

Reyna's father Miguel moved to the United States in 1968 from Argentina, where he had gone through the youth system of Independiente and played professionally with Los Andes. He settled in Springfield Township, New Jersey in the 1970s. Reyna was born in Livingston, New Jersey, where he learned the game from his father.

In New Jersey, Reyna became a youth player at Jonathan Dayton High School and then transferred to Saint Benedict's Preparatory School, where he was a teammate of Gregg Berhalter and Robert Ducey, before he graduated from St. Benedict's in 1991. During Reyna's three years with the team, St Benedict's went undefeated (65–0) while Reyna was named as the only two-time Parade Magazine's national high school Player of the Year and the Gatorade National Player of the Year. In 1999, he was named by The Star-Ledger as one of the top ten New Jersey high school soccer players of the 1990s.

Highly recruited out of high school, Reyna elected to attend the University of Virginia from 1991 to 1993 on a full scholarship. While at Virginia, he spent three seasons on the men's soccer team, coached by future U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena. The Cavaliers won the NCAA Championship each of his three seasons. On an individual level, Reyna won the Hermann Trophy in 1993 and the MAC Award in 1992 and 1993; and was named the 1992 and 1993 Soccer America Player of the Year. In 2000, the magazine placed him on its Team of the Century and named him the Male Player of the Century.

On August 8, 1994, Reyna signed with German Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverkusen after playing in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He had difficulty finding playing time with the Leverkusen first team, making only five appearances. Leverkusen loaned Reyna to fellow Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg in July 1997. He quickly established himself in Wolfsburg's first team where he became the first American to captain a European club.

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