{"id":900425,"date":"2026-04-20T13:21:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T18:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/20\/diego-luna-makes-usmnt-push-with-real-salt-lake-masterclass-mlssoccer-com\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T13:21:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T18:21:15","slug":"diego-luna-makes-usmnt-push-with-real-salt-lake-masterclass-mlssoccer-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/20\/diego-luna-makes-usmnt-push-with-real-salt-lake-masterclass-mlssoccer-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Diego Luna makes USMNT push with Real Salt Lake masterclass | MLSSoccer.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

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Real Salt Lake<\/a> are rolling, and so is their “Moon Man.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Diego Luna<\/a> delivered a goal and two assists as RSL topped San Diego FC<\/a>,\u00a04-2 at home<\/a>, to win their second straight match and extend their unbeaten streak to six.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s probably the best half of football that I\u2019ve seen in the time that I\u2019ve been here,” head coach Pablo Mastroeni told reporters post-match Saturday.<\/p>\n

“Just every phase. The way we pressed, the way we turned our defensive actions into transition moments and quality chances, the way we built from the back\u00a0\u2026 I think the first half encapsulated the team that we strive to be.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 19, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

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Setting the tone<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Luna was the catalyst of that dominant first half, opening the score in the fifth minute before assisting on Sergi Solans<\/a>‘s header one minute later.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Solans added a brace in the 37th minute, with Luna getting another helper on\u00a0DP striker\u00a0Morgan Guilavogui<\/a>‘s first career goal for Salt Lake.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luna improved to 2g\/3a in just his second start this season, after recovering from a knee injury that caused him to miss the March international window. He’s scored in both starts.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Moon Man made the most of the moment pic.twitter.com\/e3mZK4dvNz<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) April 19, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

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World Cup push<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Luna looks to be hitting his stride at the perfect time, with the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a> less than two months away.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A breakout player for the US men’s national team<\/a> last year, the two-time MLS All-Star is looking to crack Mauricio Pochettino’s final squad for this summer’s tournament on home soil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pochettino has been publicly supportive of Luna, most famously praising the playmaker’s “big balls<\/a>” after a January 2025 friendly win over Costa Rica.<\/p>\n

Luna’s hard-nosed, gritty style appears to be the norm among his Real Salt Lake teammates.<\/p>\n

“There’s no shortcuts in this sport, there’s no shortcuts in life. The graft you put forth is the reward you receive in the end,” said Mastroeni.<\/p>\n

“And that’s who we are, and that’s what we’re aiming to be.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Bong Redner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Real Salt Lake are rolling, and so is their “Moon Man.” Diego Luna delivered a goal and two assists as RSL topped San Diego FC,\u00a04-2 at home, to win their second straight match and extend their unbeaten streak to six.\u00a0 “It\u2019s probably the best half of football that I\u2019ve seen in the time that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":900426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1699,397,2005],"tags":[13195,6605],"class_list":{"0":"post-900425","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-diego","8":"category-makes","9":"category-soccer","10":"tag-diego","11":"tag-makes"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=900425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/900426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=900425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=900425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}