Lakin Litman
College Football and Football Analyst
Editor’s note: Diego Luna has two goals for the US in the Gold Cup semi -finals. The story was originally published on 22 May.
Diego Luna was not going to ruin a broken nose.
In January, in the first 15 minutes of the United States national team against Costa Rica, Luna took a elbow to the face that broke her nose. The training camp was his first under the Maurisio Pocheto, who was hired as the head coach of the USMNT last September. Luna, at that time with only one hat for his name, understood that it was a very big moment to create a impression on a new coaching staff before two decisive years: USMNT would compete in the ConcacAF Nations League Finals and 2025 Gold Cups before the co-script of the 2026 World Cup.
So when the 21 -year -old attack midfielder attended the sideline with a bloody nose, he allowed him to live in the game.
(Photo by Getty Image for Roy’s Miller/ISI Photo/USSF/USSF)
“I could still run, I could still play football, I could still see, so I told them,” at least let me play Haftime and then I will come out, “Luna recently explained to Fox Sports.
The US manager examined the team’s doctors, who filled Luna’s nose with a mist and sent it back to the pitch. Shortly thereafter, Luna slipped Brian White a pass, scoring the initial goals of Americans in a 3–0 win.
Luna was locked up in Haftime and eventually went to the hospital for surgery. He became a creed hero in this process.
“Big Balls,” Pocheto told a broadcast post-game with a chakli. “He showed great character.”
Luna’s attempt was rewarded when Pocheto called him for the Nations League final in March. His inclusion raised some eyebrows, especially since Pchethino chose him on more familiar faces such as Brendon Aaronson and Alex Zandage. Luna did not make most of the U-23 rosters for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the last summer, but was used as an inspiration, and has clearly liked what Pochitino has seen.
Luna was a bright place for the USMNT another otherwise disappointing performance in the Nations League, the first for the first time they failed to win it. He started the entire 90 minutes against Canada at the place of the third match and set the only goal of Americans with Patrick Agyamang’s Nifty Assist. Later, Pochetino, while discussing the upcoming roster decisions, evacuated Luna, which he would have to do.
“The desire and hunger that he showed is what we want,” Pochtino said. “And it’s nothing to say against the rest [team]This is only an example. When I told him that he was going to play, he was ready. And after playing well or after playing well, scoring or help or not, it is what we want to see and this is an example for me we need to take. ,
Luna is now part of the USMNT’s 27-Khiladi camp roster in front of this summer gold cup, the last major tournament playing before the 2026 World Cup. How much he will play, how he will fit into the attack, and he stands between the competition in his position, it is a question. Minors-wise, Luna may benefit from the fact that Gio Reyana will not be part of the Gold Cup roster of USMNT due to the fact that their club, Borusia Dortmund, will participate in the FIFA club World Cup at the same time. Tim Wah and Weston McCeni, who play for Juventus, face the same struggle.
Luna is in the top form. His star is rising. And he is a confident and creative playwright who has inspired himself to Pchethino. Now, they have a chance to become such a star, which is in dire need to score a deep run in this summer – and possibly earn roster spots for the 2026 World Cup.
“He will run through a wall to play football,” real salt lake coach Pablo Mastroni, who has coached Luna since 2022, told Fox Sports. “I think cruelty, and that patience, and ability to overcome, and strongly, I think it’s a void looking to fill and I think with Diego Luna, you are always going to get a dog.”
Coffee and Therapy: Luna route for USMNT
Diego Luna during a game between England and US US at the Marbela Football Center in Marbela, Spain on 25 March 2023. (Photo by Oscar Barroso/ISI Photo/Getty Image)
Pochettino gives importance to cruelty in players. He is from Argentina and spent his managerial career in Europe before joining the USMNT. He expects the players to fight, will return to defense and take whatever will take to win.
Those qualities may look clear at this level, but not everyone has them. After a spectacular performance in the Nations League in March – the loss of Panama and Canada included flat demonstrations – a lot of criticism was made for the decrease of American players and lack of pride.
Luna was an exception, which is likely to be due to the part of the unconventional path taken to go to this point. Luna left her family and her home in Sunvel, California. Three years later, he signed with El Paso Locomotive at the USL Championship before joining RSL in 2022.
Luna had to earn her place there. Then at the age of 18, he went to a city that he was never done without a friend or family. He was feeling lost. He was not playing. He did not feel part of the group. In a conversation with Mastroni in those early days, the coach told Luna that he was technical and talented, but needed to be committed to defend both sides of the ball and work. “He will say,” You can’t just be an attacker player. You are not Messi, “Luna remembered.
Luna took all those disappointing matters into their hands. For one, he worked on his defensive appearance. It took some time, but now three years later, Mastroni said that Luna has “crossed my expectations. He is engaged in defensively, but he is also scanning defensively and he is playing cats and mouse. He said that he has his own craft and he is really, really good.”
Second, Luna demanded medical treatment to address mental health conflicts, who first moved away from home at an early age. Weight of expectations – to make every game round, to call the national team – created internal pressure.
Luna said, “Imagine having a young child and you live on your own, earn money and make sure you are performing because if not, you don’t know where you are going to end or what is going to happen next,” Luna said. “It is difficult not to guide your family at every step.”
Luna said that he wants him to start medical soon, but “You can see an automatic as soon as I committed [difference]Within a week, the mindset changed [my] Emotions and emotions and how I felt internally, which allowed me to be independent and mentally clear while performing on the field. Therapy is a great tool and I think many people should not be afraid to do so. ,
Third, Luna discovered a way to remove loneliness. Because he was not playing too much in the beginning, he had more free time on his hands. Instead of going home in an empty house after training, he decided to get a second job in a local Dutch Bros Coffee Shop, where he felt that he could be able to make some friends and work on his social skills.
Not only did he master the most popular drink of an iced golden eagle – the Dutch Brothers, which is similar to a caramel vanilla latte – but for nine months he worked there, it was better to contact and communicate with Luna people with eyes.
Mastroeni could never miss a player with a part -time job, especially the salary was given to the current MLS players, but it was not about money for Luna. “It was just about knowing people in the city and feeling part of the community,” Mastroni said.
Next to the 2023 season, Luna stopped making coffee, but continued his treatment (and still goes today). He scored five goals in that season and did his work in the initial lineup. In 2024, by then a regular RSL starter, Luna scored eight goals, 12 Assist couples and they were named All-Star and MLS’s Young Player of the Year. He is on a hot streak in 2025, scoring seven goals so far, including six in the last eight matches. On 5 April, USMNT assistant coach Mickey D’Agostino was in the crowd and saw a brace within five minutes in a 2–0 win over La Galaxy.
“He is not only a great student of football, but he is a great student of life and I think he is mature beyond his years,” Mastroni said. “He is very inspired and he is ready to change to achieve. His adaptability is through the roof.
“And I think it’s all actually appearing to be part of 2026 [World Cup] The team is because he is reliable and is emotional about his football. He rescues, but not because the coach asks him. He rescues because now he really enjoys defending and understands that if he does his work at a higher level when he wins the ball, he is going to be in a position to talk in the transition. ,
‘A special type of player’
Luna is still unknown to a large extent contingent American football fan, but has not paid any attention by some more known stars of his sports style squad. And everyone always has the same thing to say about him: that he brings something “different”.
After playing with him during the Nations League matches, Luna said, “He is a terrible child. He brings something different.” “He is heartbroken. I love the way he plays and he has found a big future ahead.”
Tyler Adams saw something similar.
“He is a special type of player,” Adams said in this spring. “I think in today’s game, those creative players, you are getting at least. A number 10 man who can also play on the wing. He only gives something different for the team.”
It may be his body type-lully barrel-chade and 5’8 “, listed on 187 LBS. Perhaps it is his eccentric appearance-it has found a lot of tattoos below the neck and always has a cool hair-doe.
Maybe it is his technical ability and how he can beat people one-V-One and combine out of tight places. Or perhaps this is her fearlessness and dog mindset.
“My DNA only and how I grew up,” Luna said. “I was always playing age, always playing with big, strong, sharp children, is always pushed by my family, always has a ball on my feet. Football is in my blood. This is what I live for.”
(Photo through Getty Image by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire)
For Mastroeni, it’s more: “When I was looking [the last USMNT match vs. Canada]As the game started a kind of work and people began to tire a bit, there was still a man who was pressing the goalkeeper and getting thereafter. For me, ‘Different’ is being labeled an attacker player, but wants to work and work defensively for a team. ,
In this summer, Luna will have the opportunity to demonstrate their talent and prove themselves another to cement themselves in Pochtino’s 2026 World Cup plans. He is not uprooting anything, rather reminding himself to do “My Butt Off”.
“I’m just having fun,” said Luna. “I am working hard, making sure I am doing what I need to do on both sides of the ball, and then let my creativity go [flow] And express yourself and this is this. From there, things can happen and it is out of my control. ,
Laken Litman Fox covers college football, college basketball and football for Sports. He first wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and Indianapolis Star. She is the author of the “Strong Like a Woman”, published in Spring 2022, marking the 50th anniversary of the title IX. Come after him @LAKenlitman,
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