At the time, who knew a broken nose would change the course of the U.S. men’s national team’s preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
When Real Salt Lake star Diego Luna went down injured, clutching his face with blood in a January friendly against Costa Rica, few would have expected him to continue playing. Yet, the 21-year-old Mexican-American pushed head coach Mauricio Pochettino to stay on the pitch, eventually scoring the winning goal.
“I think that that experience for me was, I could say life-changing as it gave an opportunity for me to come back into more camps and show the type of the grit and the hunger that I have to play and represent for my country,” Luna told reporters of the moment ahead of this summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup.
“It showcases Mauricio liked that about me and liked the fight that I had. I think that shows other players that that's what's needed in this team and to fight through everything.”
When the Gold Cup approached, and the USMNT failed to get commitments from star figures like Christian Pulisic, among others, they found themselves in need of a leader.
Enter Luna. Over the last month, he’s been the much-needed emotional and footballing talisman, with his diminutive figure channeling flashes of Lionel Messi with faints and dribbles to bully his way past defenders.
And the celebrations say it all. Neck tattoo and bleached blond hair in all its detail in the moment, there’s an evident passion and desire seldom seen within the senior national team in a generation, since the 2018 retirement of Premier League and MLS standout, Clint Dempsey.
Through the Gold Cup so far, Luna has scored three goals and provided two assists, establishing himself in American soccer lore with a brace against Guatemala in the semifinals, which helped the team advance past the plucky No. 106-ranked nation that upset one of the tournament favorites, Canada.
Now, on Sunday, he has the chance to lead the USMNT into the Gold Cup final against Mexico, the country where his parents are from and the one many expected him to represent when he reached the national stage.
“It's going to be awesome, right? I've always dreamt of it growing up, seeing the USMNT-Mexico games and to be able to play in one would be unreal,” he told reporters after the Guatemala match. “So that'd be an awesome experience. And then from there, it's just a fight, a battle that you're going to go into, and we'll see what comes out.”
