I'm gonna spell it out for those of you who believe in wild conspiracy theories or are just generally mad and angry about Berhalter.

Gio experienced tightness following the friendly on Thursday, as reported here: https://twitter.com/JeffreyCarlisle/status/1594813500404424704

It is not a made up injury. So that part of your absurd posts is already out the window. Gio himself confirmed said tightness in the same quote where he says he's 100%.

As for his usage in the game, most people agreed this starting lineup was the way to go. Then we took the lead and were guarding it. The coaching staff knew playing Gio had added injury risk in this game and chose not to use him. Aside from the Morris sub with only 5 minutes left, our other subs were defensive and imo, totally fine for the situation and fitness level of the guys who came off.

It would have been nice to use Gio, but in a game where we were protecting a lead for much of it, he ultimately stays on the bench to try to keep him fully healthy for the next 2 games.

On to Gio's comments post game. About being "100%". Yeah he's just wrong and is frustrated he didn't get to play. Those of you who think Gregg is making up Gio's status and believe Gio was actually 100% are naive as fuck. This is extremely common in sports. We see it on a weekly basis in the NFL. Guys telling reporters that they are fine and good to go, and low and behold a day later they're on IR or inactive on Sunday. Gio could have played in this game but game state and a tough call from the coaching staff resulted in 0 minutes. It sucks, but it's fine and is not a conspiracy. Let's hope it was truly precaution and that he can get through as many minutes as possible the rest of the way.