The director behind the new docuseries on the U.S. Men’s National Team has heard the backlash about glossing over the 2023 Reyna-Berhalter drama. But he tells Front Office Sports he’s standing behind his decision.
U.S. Against the World, the HBO docuseries from Getlin’s Park Stories, follows the USMNT from the 2022 World Cup through the lead-up to the 2026 tournament.
Last month, director and executive producer Rand Getlin told broadcaster Glenn Crooks why his documentary only briefly mentions the controversy. After former head coach Gregg Berhalter said he nearly sent Gio Reyna home from Qatar in 2022, Reyna’s mother, Danielle, subsequently reported to the federation an alleged domestic violence incident from the early 1990s that involved Berhalter and his wife.
U.S. Soccer conducted an investigation and reinstated Berhalter as coach, but later fired him in 2024 after the Copa América. Berhalter and Reyna’s father Claudio played together on the USMNT, and Gio is now teammates for the World Cup with Berhalter’s son, Sebastian.
The clip of Getlin’s explanation to Crooks went viral on social media. Many fans and media members questioned his reasoning for the subject’s exclusion from the five-episode series, and why even a few minutes wouldn’t have been enough to address it.
