Thread by @UpshotTowers

In the incestuous bubble of American soccer, you never know who you can trust. Even your closest friends.

This is the story of a feud between two footballing families, and a dark secret tearing US soccer apart.

Welcome to Berhalter vs. Reyna...

The winding road to soccer anarchy begins when future stars Rosalind Santana and Danielle Egan meet in the Long Island junior league.

The pair sign for the University of North Carolina, taking 7-hour road trips to games, munching pop tarts and belting out Hotel California.

They become roommates at college, where Rosalind is something of a hit with the boys.

After a wild first term, she spies a mysterious hunk lining up at centre back for the college men's team.

It's Gregg Berhalter.

A whirlwind romance ensues, as the young lovers while their nights away, whispering sweet nothings to each other as they stream illegal highlights of the Bundesliga 2.

It's all roses and MOTD until one night, during a drunken row at the student bar, Gregg kicks Rosalind.

Distraught, she rushes back to the dorms, where the bookish Danielle is up studying.

Danielle comforts the weeping striker, and they agree she should see no more of Gregg.

For the next 7 months, Gregg begs Ros for forgiveness, and she eventually takes him back.

Meanwhile, Danielle gets a footballing flame of her own.

She strikes up a romance with future US captain Claudio Reyna, and both couples soon marry. Claudio is even Gregg's best man.

The 4 remain close friends as they pursue their footballing dreams, all representing the US national team. Claudio and Gregg have spells in England with Man City and Crystal Palace.

The Reynas have four kids, and their second son Gio is earmarked as a footballing prodigy.

As the years roll on, Gregg retires and moves into management.

He's sacked after 18 months in the Swedish second tier with Hammarby, when the board tire of a "lack of attacking play".

An underwhelming spell with Columbus Crew follows, ending with a win rate of just 39%.

Bizarrely, he's then appointed manager of the US national team.

Despite a string of outstanding candidates, Gregg is the only one interviewed for the role.

He's picked for the job by his old teammate Earnie Stewart, whose boss at the FA is none other than Gregg's brother, Jay.

The new coach is blessed with a "golden generation", including Christian Pulisic and his old pals' son Gio Reyna, now at Borussia Dortmund.

But they stumble through World Cup qualifying, resorting to underhand tactics like forcing Honduras to play in -17 degrees in Minnesota.

And the team is rocked by another scandal, when midfielder Weston McKennie is caught breaking COVID rules by sneaking a girl back to the team hotel.

Rumours circulate that it was a teammate's sister.

Nevertheless, the US qualify for the World Cup, meaning Gio Reyna will proudly follow in his father's footsteps.

But on the eve of the tournament, Greg calls Gio into his office to break the news that he'll only play a limited role in Qatar.

It doesn't go down well.

In a warm up game, Gio is subbed off after 30mins for refusing to run, and he is later accused of refusing to train and throwing his kit across the dressing room.

Gregg threatens to send him home, but eventually puts the decision to a team vote, which Gio wins by 13 votes to 12.

The squad muddle on, but on the eve of their crunch knockout tie, US soccer staff receive a mysterious phone call.

The caller says they have information about Gregg Berhalter which will "take him down".

A shaken Berhalter refuses to let his focus slip.

The US lose the game and crash out, with Reyna playing just 53 minutes in the whole tournament.

The following week, at a 'Moral Leadership Summit' in New York, Gregg spills the beans on their falling out.

"We were ready to book a plane ticket home" he tells the crowd.

With Gio's name being dragged through the mud by the vengeful American press, his mum Danielle goes berserk.

She rages that she's been "personally betrayed by the actions of someone my family had considered a friend for decades."

Two weeks later, Gregg is suddenly suspended from his job by the US football federation.

The old story of him kicking his wife has hit the front pages.

But how? Who would have such intimate knowledge of a secret he's spent 32 years trying to bury?

That would be his old mucker Danielle Reyna of course!

This week, Gio's mum confessed to digging up and feeding the story to a "close friend I've known for years".

And that friend just happens to be Greg's boss, US Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart.

With Berhalter's job hanging by a thread and the Reynas still fuming, the next college reunion should be interesting...

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