Sandy • Diego Luna looked upset when he was subbed off in the 64th minute in last week’s draw with the Seattle Sounders.
But Luna may have been upset about more than just the substitution.
Earlier that day, Luna learned he wasn’t on the U. S. Men’s National Team roster headed to Kansas City this month for its final preparations before the Paris Olympics. His omission came as a surprise to many who follow soccer at the national level.
Luna, however, is trying to stay locked into his play.
“It’s not that deep for me,” Luna said Friday after training. “I continue to work hard, I continue to do my thing, and then things will happen. You can only control what you can control. Everything else, their decisions is all based on what they think and what they they believe. So it’s not really anything that happens to me. All I can do is just perform and continue to work.”
USMNT coach Marko Mitrović said that Luna not being invited to the June camp in no way means he is out the running to make the Olympic roster.
Luna admitted after returning from the March USMNT camp that he hadn’t performed up to his expectations, and hadn’t been all year due to some mental health struggles. He also said his relationship with Mitrović is “fair,” but there have been “ups and downs.”
“I think there’s been miscommunications in some ways and shapes and form,” Luna said in March. “Maybe we’re not on the same page in some moments, but that’s how it is with a lot of coaches and that’s [what] you’re going to deal with in your career.”
Luna has played better in recent months. Since early April, he’s started all but two games, scored four goals and added two assists.
“I feel good here, and I feel like I’m playing good after a little slump,” Luna said. “I think I’m just getting back into it. There’s no excuse about anything. I think it’s just for me to continue to have fun and play and work hard and do things here for RSL. And then whatever happens after that — whatever clubs, whatever national teams reach out — it’s all just things that come along with being successful at your club, I feel like.”
RSL is atop the Western Conference, riding a 13-game unbeaten streak.
