Minnesota United star Emanuel Reynoso on Friday said, "I was wrong," for his four-month absence that started this season.
"The truth is that due to family problems, I could not come," he said. "The truth is that I went through a very difficult time in my life. … The truth is that what I did was not right. I know that."
He said so in a team-produced video released Friday, spoken in Spanish and translated by the club into English. They were his first public comments this season since his teammates reported for preseason training in early January and he didn't.
Reynoso won't rejoin his teammates for training until Thursday and could still be weeks away from playing games. But his return might be accelerated a little with Friday's other news that versatile Robin Lod tore his left knee meniscus in Wednesday's home victory over Houston and will undergo surgery on Monday.
Loons coach Adrian Heath said the severity of Lod's injury — whether he'll miss a couple weeks or a month or more — won't be known until the operation reveals how much repair is needed.
"We've got a deep squad," Heath said. "So we have cover, but you can do without losing your better players. We're without arguably two of our best players at this moment in time, which doesn't help."
Reynoso returned to Minnesota from his Argentina home on May 6. On Tuesday, MLS lifted a suspension in place since February and cleared him for full team participation. He signed a new contract in September intended to start this season and keep him with the club until 2026.
MLS Player Association's salary report released this week lists Reynoso's guaranteed compensation for this season at $2.1 million and his base salary $1.6 million.
Reynoso has been working with the athletic training and sports science staffs since his arrival, but isn't expected to begin training with the team until Thursday, after Tuesday's U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal game at Houston.
He has been doing two-a-day and three-a-day workouts at the Loons' Blaine training facility. He watched Wednesday's home game against Houston from the Allianz Field club level with chief soccer officer Manny Lagos. Reynoso stayed in Minnesota to continue his training rather than travel with the team to Portland for Saturday's game, and Tuesday to Houston.
"The truth is I am close to the stadium, next to the field and that makes me want to be able to help the team, to be able to go out and play," Reynoso said. "I am preparing myself in the best way to be 100% and be available to the coach. I think it's step by step, take it easy and when the day comes, I'll be ready to give my best."
Heath on Friday again said Reynoso must win over his teammates and team with his work, not his words.
"It's all about his actions now and not what he says," Heath said in a video call from Portland. "We see it. He's training hard and now we need to see him really push himself over these next two, three, four weeks to see where he can get himself. … It's never easy for people to come back when they've been away for five months or whatever it was. He had had to explain himself."
Reynoso is a two-time MLS All Star whose return to top playing form is all the more important now that the Loons announced Lod's injury suffered early in Wednesday's game, in which he still played all 90 minutes.
Reynoso credits fans' messages for helping get him back to Minnesota and MLS.
"That helped me a lot to be able to come here," he said. "I am very grateful for them, always supporting me off the field and on the field. I hope I can return all the love, all the support they gave me."
