National Writer: Charles Boehm<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n His US men\u2019s national team<\/a> had just survived an arduous test to book their place in the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup<\/a> final, outlasting a spirited Guatemala side roared on by legions of vibrant Chapines supporters on a muggy summer night at St. Louis CITY SC<\/a>‘s Energizer Park.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Yet in the aftermath of Wednesday\u2019s sweaty 2-1 win<\/a>, Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s mind drifted back to winter and the annual January camp, where predominantly MLS-based USMNTers gather in a warm-weather locale to get a head start on the new year. The camp is not universally loved \u2013 Clint Dempsey has admitted he dreaded that call late in his career; Jurgen Klinsmann said he recommended U.S. Soccer mothball it altogether \u2013 but \u2018Poch\u2019 is thanking his lucky stars for its existence.<\/p>\n Because that\u2019s where he discovered Diego Luna<\/a>, the man who now wears the US No. 10 shirt and scored the two goals that powered them into Sunday\u2019s final vs. Mexico at NRG Stadium in Houston (7 pm ET | FOX, TUDN, Univision).<\/p>\n \u201cHow important was January?\u201d mused Pochettino after the close-run victory.<\/p>\n \u201cTo discover a player like him, and to give him confidence \u2026 Sometimes people say it\u2019s useless, but it’s not useless. I think it’s important, important for the national team, important for the team, very important for the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Three days after scoring his first US goal to help the Yanks reach the semifinals, Luna was clutch again, snatching two well-taken goals in the opening 15 minutes to push Guatemala into a hole they could not climb out of, even with a ferocious second-half rally that fell just short.<\/p>\n As slick as his stepovers and sweetly-hit finish were on his second strike, the Real Salt Lake<\/a> attacker\u2019s urgency was palpable in all phases of the game, the sort of fire that\u2019s often been in short supply as the program lost some momentum over the past year or so.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it’s the grit, it\u2019s determination that we’ve been lacking, to be honest. It’s fighting to the end, every ball, every moment,\u201d Luna told FOX\u2019s Jenny Taft after his latest star turn. \u201cThe game’s about moments, and I think this is where we showcase it. It’s 90 minutes of hundreds of moments, and you got to execute on each one.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s just finding the rhythm,\u201d he added of his surging form. \u201cAnd I think being able to get the freedom from the coaching staff and from the team, knowing that they’re going to have my back, and the trust of the defensive responsibilities allows me to just do what I do on the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Barely six months after he caught Poch\u2019s eye by playing through a broken nose<\/a> to notch the game-winning assist in a 3-0 friendly win<\/a> over Costa Rica, Luna is now the team\u2019s spiritual center, a talisman who looks increasingly vital to any version of the USMNT, even one with its full complement of European-based stars available.<\/p>\n An unabashed romantic, in keeping with his roots at Newell\u2019s Old Boys, one of Argentine soccer\u2019s most cherished institutions, Pochettino offered warm praise for the passion and desire of both Guatemala\u2019s players and supporters \u2013 and pointed to Luna as cut from the same cloth.<\/p>\n \u201cAn example is Diego, that is all that we expect from a player,\u201d said the coach. \u201cOf course, I\u2019m happy he scored goals. But is that attitude, that hunger, desire, everything \u2013 and then for sure, the talent will appear.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you go to play the sport only for fun, the rest of the opponents and the different countries, you play for survive, you play for food, you play for pride; you play for many things. Is not to go and enjoy and go home and laugh, and that’s it, you know? And if the moment that we, now, this roster, we start to live in this way, I think we have big room to improve. But I think Diego was a good example, that from January, how he is desperate to play for this shirt, for the national team, and that is why now he is in the level that he is showing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 3, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Luna and many of his current teammates were relative outsiders just a short while ago, simply hoping for a chance to show they could contribute.<\/p>\n Now they\u2019ll have the opportunity to hoist a major trophy in US colors, and continue to stake their claim for a FIFA 2026 World Cup<\/a> roster spot.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m extremely grateful, and I think every single one of these players think about it the same way I do,\u201d \u2018Moon Man,\u2019 who was previously eligible to represent Mexico, told Taft.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the number-one dream that we’ve had as a kid, and we’re going to fight for this to have as many chances to wear it as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n The Luna factor<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Leader by example<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Trophy on the line<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n