Dax McCarty admitted he was baffled by Diego Luna being left off the U.S. men’s national team Olympic roster, a snub that inspired the Real Salt Lake star to a “masterclass” performance against McCarty’s Atlanta United side.
Luna was left off the USMNT squad heading to France, with Colorado Rapids playmaker Djordje Mihailovic named to the team as an overage player in his place.
After receiving the news of his omission, Luna tallied three assists and a goal in Real Salt Lake’s 5-2 win over Atlanta United last weekend.
McCarty was on the receiving end of Luna’s star performance, saying on his Major League Journeymen podcast that the 20-year-old has a right to feel aggrieved about being left off Marko Mitrović’s 18-man roster.
“With Atlanta United, we unfortunately just got our butts kicked by Real Salt Lake and Diego Luna was absolutely fantastic. He was the best player on the field,” the veteran midfielder said.
“We don’t know what goes into these decisions, we can only judge it for what it is. I think Luna has has a right to be perturbed because he absolutely destroyed us with Atlanta. It was a masterclass of a second half from him. We felt the wrath of his snub.”
McCarty played alongside Mihailovic with the Chicago Fire when Mitrović was an assistant coach, saying that he believed the coach opted for the overage Mihailovic over the age-eligible Luna due to his longstanding relationship with the now-Rapids playmaker.
“I think it came down to what overage players are available. What overage players can we bring, and is it going to be Diego Luna or Djordje Mihailovic?” McCarty said. “If we can get Djordje Mihailovic released from Colorado, the preference was Djordje. That’s clear because Marko has a relationship with Djordje, he’s known Djordje for years.
“I’m curious what Marko has seen in the U-23 camps that we don’t know about that led him to the decision to say, ‘I’m not going to bring Diego Luna, who’s age eligible but I’m going to bring Djordje instead.’
“For me it came down to that: Djordje Mihailovic versus Diego Luna. I think Diego Luna should be there.”
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