After curling the ball into the bottom corner to put Borussia Dortmund 3-0 up against Stuttgart, Gio Reyna wheeled away in celebration, first dropping to his knees, arms raised, before collapsing forward and burying his head in the turf as his teammates piled on top of him. 

When the 19-year-old emerged from the melee and looked up at the towering Westfalenstadion terraces, his cheeks were strewn with tears. It was his first goal in 421 days and all the pent-up emotion of months of injuries, set-backs, false dawns and rehabilitation came pouring out.

"It felt so good; it’s been a long time coming," the 19-year-old told reporters afterwards.

"So much hard work took place behind the scenes which a lot of people don’t see," he elaborated. "No summer break, rehab six hours a day, I don’t know how many people could stick through that unless you’re just really hungry to get back as soon as possible. It was tough, but I’m happy to be back."

Making the difference in tight spaces 

And so was everybody associated with Dortmund after they ended a disappointing run of form with a convincing 5-0 win over strugglers Stuttgart. Head coach Edin Terzic attributed a "significant part" of the victory to Reyna. 

"You can see how well he can combine the play in tight spaces," Terzic told DW afterwards. "We saw it in [the 2-0 German Cup win against] Hannover on Wednesday, and we especially saw it today." 

The American's goal was a case-in-point. Drifting into the box from the left wing just before half-time, he took one touch to control Youssoufa Moukoko’s pass with his left foot before immediately curling the ball into the far corner with his right. 

The goal ended the contest, but not the game and after half-time, Reyna had a different job to do.

"In the second half, his role was a bit different because Stuttgart were defending differently; it was less about him attacking from the wing, and more about being available to receive passes in between the lines," Terzic explained. 

"That’s where Gio is at his best, where he can receive the ball, turn and combine quickly with teammates."

Energy source

The ability to switch up their offensive play and vary their attacks is something which has let Dortmund down this season. Before Saturday’s rout of Stuttgart, they had only scored 13 goals in ten Bundesliga games and had the worst chance conversion rate in the division.

But Reyna feels he can help change that, explaining that his aim on Saturday was to "bring energy" to the team. 

"We have a lot of free flowing, technical players who can do a bit of everything," he said. "So, whether I'm on the left, right or through the middle, we have the freedom and the energy to be free flowing and keep going forward.

"Our energy from start to finish was the difference today. The way we started, with the pressing and the early goals, when we play like this, the fans will come with us too."

World Cup boost 

One of those fans inside the Westfalenstadion on Saturday was Ian from North Carolina, who was pleased with his compatriot’s performance, especially with the World Cup approaching. 

"He was excellent today," Ian told DW. "He’s fast, he’s good on the ball, he’s a great dribbler and a good playmaker. It’s great to have him back healthy and even scoring a goal – he’s going to be so important for the US at the World Cup."

That seemingly won't be of much concern to the supporters on the Yellow Wall who unveiled a huge "Boycott Qatar 2022" banner at the start of the second half, but the tournament is equally far away for Reyna himself.

"I’ll think about that when the time comes," he said. "For now, I just need to relax and do all the necessary recovery. It was my first Bundesliga start, a high energy game with lots of sprints. But my legs feel good!"

"We’re happy Gio is fit again," concluded head coach Terzic. "He’s had to suffer a lot in recent months with setbacks and time off. We’ve been able to slowly reintroduce him to the team from the bench in the last couple of weeks to help him rediscover his feeling and his confidence on the pitch. And today he had a very good game."