During Sunday’s Concacaf Nations League final, U.S. men’s national team star Gio Reyna was pelted by a bottle thrown from the stands and needed assistance from the team’s medical staff.
The incident occurred immediately after midfielder Christian Pulisic made a go-ahead penalty kick in extra time to give the USMNT a 3-2 lead. Minutes later, Mexico won a penalty following a VAR check of a handball, but the try was stopped by Ethan Horvath.
Reyna scored the first goal for the U.S. in the first half off of a corner kick from Pulisic that evened the score a 1-1. It was his third international goal for the senior team.
After Reyna was hit with the bottle, play had to be stopped minutes later when fans ran onto the field and had to be taken off by security. That resulted in several minutes of stoppage time being added to an already lengthy contest.
The incident comes after multiple similar ones occurred during the NBA playoffs. A Celtics fan threw a bottle at Nets guard Kyrie Irving as he walked into the tunnel during their first round series, while a Knicks fan spit at Hawks guard Trae Young at Madison Square Garden. A fan ran onto the court at Capital One Arena during a Wizards-76ers game, and another poured popcorn on Wizards guard Russell Westbrook during a different game.
The U.S. went on to defeat Mexico, 3-2, to take home the trophy.
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