Gio Reyna youngest American to play in Bundesliga at age 17

Dortmund's Erling Haaland, left, celebrates with Giovanni Reyna after scoring a goal in a German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund in Augsburg, Germany, Saturday, Jan.18, 2020. ( Stefan Puchner/dpa via AP) (Stefan Puchner, (c) Copyright 2020, dpa (www.dpa.de). Alle Rechte vorbehalten)

AUGSBURG – Gio Reyna became the youngest American to play in the Bundesliga when he made his league debut for Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.

Aged 17 years, 2 months, 5 days, Reyna came on in the 72nd minute at Augsburg and was booked in the 76th, with his performance impressing Dortmund coach Lucien Favre.

Recommended Videos



“It was very good that he played here. At 17, it was good,” Favre said.

Reyna replaced Christian Pulisic as the youngest American to have played in the league. Pulisic was 17 years, 4 months, 12 days old when he made his Bundesliga debut for Dortmund on Jan. 30, 2016.

Reyna is the son of former U.S. internationals Claudio Reyna and Danielle Egan Reyna.

Dortmund signed the attacking midfielder from New York City FC in July and he went on to score four goals in 11 league games for Dortmund's under-19 team.

The teenager was named to a Bundesliga matchday squad for the first time in December, when he was an unused substitute in a 5-0 win over Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Reyna's debut took second place to Erling Haaland’s first game for the club, as the 19-year-old Norwegian striker scored a second-half hat trick to help Dortmund overturn a two-goal deficit and win 5-3 in Augsburg.

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports