ORLANDO – By the time he was taken out at halftime, Diego Luna’s face looked like it had survived 15 rounds in the ring, not 45 minutes on the field. Face bloodied, nose plugged with cotton in both nostrils, and a clear wince on his face, Luna looked like he’d gone to battle. He had to change shirts at one point while wiping away the blood. On this night, Luna showed that he was ready to both perform and persevere.
It wasn’t his physicality, though, that got him to the U.S. men’s national team; it was his finesse. That, too, was easy to spot on Wednesday on a cold night in Florida. For all of the attention paid to Real Salt Lake rising star’s bloodied face, it was his feet that did the talking – again.
Luna’s through ball to Brian White in the 21st minute, just moments after taking an elbow to the face, sparked the USMNT their opening goal in an eventual 3-0 win over Costa Rica. That assist came just moments after Luna had to be helped into a new shirt by none other than Mauricio Pochettino – the coach later confirmed that Luna had broken his nose.
“I was very surprised he broke his nose, but I didn’t want to say anything,” Pochettino told TNT after the mach. “Not have too much drama you know. I don’t want to scare them. I said ‘How do you feel?’ and he said ‘Please coach, let me to keep playing, at least until halftime, and then I’ll go out. Doctor, Give me the OK.’ “
The USMNT boss must have been impressed when Luna cut the ball past several defenders to play in White, who made no mistake with the finish. It was a good goal from White, but the setup was all Luna, who had a standout performance.
He wasn’t the only one, though. White, of course, did well for himself to score his first international goal. It’s a moment he’ll never forget, no doubt. He’s scored plenty in MLS over the last few seasons, but this one will no doubt feel special. Caden Clark joined him, too, scoring a stunner to net his first international goal in the second half. Patrick Agyemang made it two goals in as many games with a stunning goal off the bench, capping the three-score night for the Americans.
On the other side of the field, veteran goalkeeper Zack Steffen did everything he possibly could to preserve the clean sheet. The Colorado Rapids star made several big saves throughout, making something of a statement in a game in which he no doubt felt the pressure to perform.
Overall, following up the 3-1 win over Venezuela last Saturday, this was successful manner in which to close the January camp. On an individual and team level, this went as expected, and there will be numerous players leaving Florida feeling good about their runs in a USMNT shirt.
“The message from day one 1 – and I think they listened – I told them from the very beginning they need to take these two games very seriously because if they perform, they will have the possibility to join us in the future,” Pochettino said. “In the way they behaved, their attitude and performance, today we are very happy. You can bring different players and play in Europe, but these type of performances like today make us very positive for the future.”
GOAL rates the USMNT player from Inter&Co Stadium.