Diego Luna’s hopes of making the U.S. men’s Olympic roster this summer reportedly ended on Saturday, but while many players would be disappointed with the news, Luna used it as motivation en route to a Man of the Match performance.
Luna scored once and added three assists as Real Salt Lake rolled to a 5-2 home win over visiting Atlanta United. The 20-year-old attacker set the stage with an early assist on Matt Crooks’ first minute goal before adding two additional helpers and an insurance goal in the second half.
Despite having a positive first half of the MLS season, Luna is not set to be included in Marko Mitrovic’s 18-player Olympic roster when it is released on Monday afternoon. Although there is some disappointment in Luna not being part of the Americans’ trip to France this month, the dual-national is staying focused on the job at hand with RSL.
“I’m grateful to be here and to be able to stay here with RSL in this great run of form and continue to do stuff like this and hopefully more, right?” Luna said postmatch. “So I’m happy, focused. I’m here with RSL and I’m going to continue to work hard.
“.. It’s the same disappointment when you get news that you don’t want to hear. Everybody deals with it every day,” he added. “And I think it’s just that same feeling, maybe to a different extreme, but I think it’s all about how we react to that situation and making the right decision.”
Luna made an immediate positive impression during the 2023 season, scoring seven combined goals and adding three assists across all competitions. A former U.S. under-20 men’s national team standout, Luna has taken those stats to new heights in 2024.
He has five goals and 12 assists to his name in MLS play this season, helping RSL to a current second place spot in the Western Conference (despite having equal points as West-leading LAFC). Pablo Mastroeni’s men have respectively the second-best home and away records in the West, losing just three times in 22 matches to date.
Luna has been a major part of RSL’s first-half success and although many fans and players alike would’ve liked to see him part of the United States’ return to the Olympics, Mastroeni is and RSL are fortunate to have him for the MLS and Leagues Cup matches that lie ahead.
“He’s a player that plays with a chip on his shoulder,” Mastroeni said. “Credit to Diego for his endeavor and, really, his quality.. selfishly for me and the rest of our team, we’ve got a top caliber player that’s going to be available for the next four games.”
