A year ago, wearing red, white and blue helped jump-start Diego Luna’s career.
As Real Salt Lake’s young star looks to take his next leap forward now, being snubbed by his country might be the catalyst.
Luna, who looked to be a lock for the U.S. Olympic team after an impressive display in the Under-20 World Cup last summer, won’t be going to Paris after all. It’s a roster decision that has puzzled insiders, angered fans and has Luna’s club team practically salivating, knowing how the dynamic midfielder might use the moment for motivation.
“What do they call it?” RSL coach Pablo Mastroeni said. “Poking the bear?”
On Saturday night, just hours after news break of his surprising omission from the Olympic roster, Luna put on a masterclass — recording three assists and a goal in RSL’s 5-2 win over Atlanta United.
“He’s a player that plays with a chip on his shoulder,” Mastroeni said.
For as aggressive as Luna was on the field Saturday night, he was more subdued as he spoke with reporters after RSL’s 12th win of the season.
“Decisions are made all around soccer, different teams, different coaches,” Luna said. “That’s it. You really can’t do anything about it.”
He added: “It’s the same disappointment when you get news that you don’t want to hear; everybody deals with it every day. It’s just that same feeling, maybe to a different extreme. But it’s all about how we react to that situation.”
RSL expects Luna to react with the kind of performances that have helped him rack up five goals and 12 assists, third best in Major League Soccer, so far this year.
“Diego is a guy that’s hungry,” Mastroeni said. “Diego is a guy that wants to play at the highest level. He holds himself to an extremely high standard and he’s been an integral part of everything that we’ve been able to achieve this year.”
The coach said he gave Luna the only bit of advice he ever wants to give his players during a difficult moment.
“If I ask you to close your eyes in this moment, what do you feel?” Mastroeni said. “Because, at the end of the day, you have to be honest with yourself and you have to be true to yourself. There’s no one else in this life that’s more important than yourself, right? If you don’t look after yourself, who does?”
And Luna, so far, seems to be envisioning himself in a good place.
“I’m finding my stride again, feeling good,” the 20-year-old said. “I’m finding what works for me and my routine. … And, of course, the mental side, being in a great mindset and staying positive and making sure there’s nothing blocking you and stressing you out outside of the soccer. That’s definitely helped me and that’s the stuff I’m focusing on as I’m growing.”
Luna’s absence in Paris will be RSL’s gain as the season continues.
“Selfishly for me and the rest of the team,” Mastroeni said, “we get a top-caliber player that’s going to be available for the next month of games.”
Luna echoed that thought.
“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,” he said. “So I’m happy, focused. I’m here and I’m going to continue to work.”
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