Reyna’s First Bundesliga Goal

 On This Day in 2020, the American Teenager Made History in Dortmund’s Season Opener

When the Bundesliga resumed in May 2020 after its pandemic-induced pause, Gio Reyna was poised for his first league start in the high-stakes Revierderby against Schalke. Instead, a cruel twist of fate struck during warmups—a calf injury that sidelined the 17-year-old American just as his breakthrough moment beckoned. He would have to wait.

Reyna returned eleven days later for the final stretch of Dortmund's season, making a brief appearance as a substitute in their victory over Wolfsburg. Though he had already announced himself with that stunning cup goal against Werder Bremen and his Champions League heroics against PSG, his Bundesliga account remained unopened as the 2019-20 campaign concluded.

The summer “break” brought renewed optimism. Reyna shook off a bacterial infection that had briefly sidelined him and entered the new season with four preseason goals in three matches, showcasing the clinical finishing that would soon make headlines. On September 14, he opened his 2020-21 account with a perfectly struck free kick in the DFB-Pokal, curling the ball into the net during a commanding 5-0 victory over MSV Duisburg.

But it was five days later, on September 19, that Reyna would etch his name into Bundesliga history.

Playing before 9,300 fans in Dortmund's cavernous 80,000-seat stadium—COVID-19 restrictions creating an eerie atmosphere—Reyna started alongside fellow teenager Jude Bellingham in what promised to be a showcase of Dortmund's youth movement. The opponent was Borussia Mönchengladbach, and the stage was set for the new season's opening weekend.

In the 35th minute, the moment arrived with poetic precision. Bellingham, the 17-year-old English midfielder making his own Bundesliga debut, threaded a pass to Reyna, who had found space in a dangerous position. With composure that belied his years, the American controlled the ball and fired an angled shot that found its mark, sending the limited crowd into raptures.

At 17 years and 311 days old, Reyna had become the second-youngest American to score in Bundesliga history, trailing only Christian Pulisic—who had achieved the feat for the same club four years earlier at 17 years and 211 days. The symmetry was perfect: both Americans, both at Dortmund, both teenagers writing their names into German football folklore.

The goal was just the beginning of a dominant display. Early in the second half, Reyna's movement in the box drew a foul that resulted in a penalty, which Erling Haaland coolly converted. Later, Haaland added a second goal after a blistering counter-attack, completing a 3-0 victory that announced Dortmund's intentions for the new campaign.

For 79 minutes, Reyna had been at the heart of everything positive about Dortmund's performance, combining technical excellence with tactical intelligence. His partnership with Bellingham hinted at a future built around youth, while his understanding with Haaland suggested a potent attacking triumvirate was forming.

The goal carried profound significance beyond the record books. After a season of tantalizing glimpses—the cup stunner, the Champions League assist, the injury heartbreak—Reyna had finally opened his Bundesliga account in emphatic fashion. It validated the faith shown by manager Lucien Favre and vindicated Dortmund's patient development of their teenage prodigy.

The achievement resonated across American soccer, where a golden generation of young talents was establishing itself in Europe's elite leagues. Alongside Pulisic at Chelsea, Weston McKennie at Juventus, and Tyler Adams at RB Leipzig, Reyna represented the brightest hope for U.S. soccer's future.

U.S. national team coach Gregg Berhalter had been planning to cap Reyna for months, with a European training camp and friendly match targeted for November. The pandemic had delayed those plans, but performances like this only strengthened the case for fast-tracking the teenager into the senior setup.

The rest of 2020 would prove equally memorable for Reyna. Three weeks later, he recorded a hat trick of assists against Freiburg, becoming the youngest player ever to achieve that feat in the Bundesliga. In December, he scored his second league goal against Eintracht Frankfurt before being named U.S. Soccer's Young Male Player of the Year.

But it was that September evening in Dortmund, with a perfectly angled finish past a helpless goalkeeper, that Reyna truly announced himself as American soccer's next great hope. The wait was over, and the future had officially arrived.