Real Salt Lake’s Diego Luna broke his nose — and earned the admiration of the nation’s soccer fans in the process.
After taking an elbow to the face in Wednesday’s friendly between the U.S. Men’s National Team and Costa Rica, Luna convinced new U.S. coach Mauricio Pocchetino to keep him in the game.
“I was very surprised because his nose was broken,” Pochettino said on the broadcast after America’s 3-0 victory. “I didn’t want to say too much. He said ‘Please coach let me keep playing.’ I asked the doctor who said it was OK.”
With gauze stuffed in each nostril, Luna returned to the field and almost immediately threaded a perfect pass to forward Brian White for the first goal of the game.
“He showed great character,” Pochettino said.
On Thursday morning, Luna shared a photo of his bandaged nose on social media, confirming that he’d already had surgery to repair it.
“I should be back on the field Monday,” he wrote in a caption.
This was the second year in a row that Luna had been called into the United States' January camp. The 21-year-old could have had some reservations this year after being snubbed by Team USA for the Paris Olympics, but Luna was quick to say he had put that behind him.
“My mind is past that already. I have no hard feelings,” he said at the start of camp. “You could say I have a little bit of grit and a little bit of something to work for. They made their decisions and that’s fine. You can’t go back on that. I’m just going to continue to work and see where the next chance and big moments for me are.”
Luna certainly had one of those moments this week.
