Tag: Diego Luna

‘He destroyed us!’ – McCarty questions Luna Olympic snub after RSL masterclass vs. Atlanta

The veteran midfielder said Atlanta United “felt the wrath of his snub”

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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USYNT makes hard work out of Fiji in second U-20 World Cup win

Better late than never, right?

The U.S. U-20 national team is proving that late is better than never.

The United States notched a second straight U-20 World Cup win, but were held for over an hour by group minnows Fiji before eventually running out 3-0 victors.

Thanks to Jonathan Gómez thundering home a stoppage-time winner, the U.S. opened their group stage slate with a dramatic 1-0 win over Ecuador. It wasn’t quite that late against Fiji, but what seemed to be the least-challenging game in the group turned into a tall task thanks to some wayward finishing and Fiji goalkeeper Aydin Ashaz Mustahib’s saves.

The U.S. peppered his goal with 31 shots, but despite them camping out in and around the Fiji penalty area, the game was still scoreless after 65 minutes.

Mikey Varas’ side kept plugging away though, and Real Salt Lake’s Diego Luna produced an opportunistic breakthrough in traffic.

The floodgates were open, but the goal rush didn’t arrive until the game’s final moments, and it took something special. Cade Cowell decided to see if he could match Gómez on the highlight reel, unleashing a vicious, bending shot from 20 yards in the 88th minute.

Underlining this team’s apparent penchant for scoring very late, Caleb Wiley — like Luna, a substitute on the day — popped up nine minutes into second-half stoppage time to tap home a third after Brandan Craig’s free kick bounced off the post.

While the win doesn’t guarantee the U.S. first place in Group B just yet, it does mean they have a place somewhere in the round of 16. The U.S. will face Slovakia in their group finale on May 26, and will claim the top spot with a draw or win.

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USMNT prospects: Aaronson breaking through in MLS, Fletcher scoring in USL

While Brenden Aaronson is turning heads in the Premier League, his younger brother, Paxten, is breaking through in MLS

U.S. fans are understandably abuzz projecting the 2022 World Cup roster and debating the best hypothetical XI for Qatar. But there are reasons beyond the upcoming World Cup to get excited about the USMNT’s future.

After the World Cup, the U.S. will compete in the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia, followed by the 2024 Summer Olympics in France.

The 2022 World Cup is — of course — the most notable tournament, and it’s on deck first. But we can’t help but look ahead to the next generation, so we’ve started a series tracking USMNT prospects to watch.

Here’s our first installment of sporadic check-ins with some of American soccer’s up-and-coming prospects for 2023 and beyond.