Who is Diego Luna? The Mexican-American who is making waves in the MLS and could go to the Tricolor

There was a lot of talk during the week about Goal of the Day in the MLSwhich was carried out by the American Diego Luna of the Real Salt Lake with a long-range shot from outside the area in the 3-2 victory over the Houston Dynamo on Date 24.

Now, who is this footballer who plays in the United States? It should be noted that the 20-year-old is seen as the successor of the American Landon Donovanwhich caused a lot of suffering Mexican team. The element of the Royals He developed as a midfielder and was born in Sunnyvale, California. And although he was born on American soil, Moon He is of Mexican descent, starting his career at Palo Alto SC before joining the youth teams of San Jose Earthquakes in 2015.

With the jacket of Earthquakethe midfielder participated in several tournaments such as the Dallas Cup and the Generation ADIDAS Cup. In 2018 he left the Californian club and joined the Barcelona Residential Academywhich is based in Arizona. By April 2021, it joined El Paso Locomotive of the USL Championship with a professional contract, scoring 13 goals in 43 games. The coach Mark Lowry He realized that his mentality could take him further and finally, in June 2020 he was transferred to the Real Salt Lakestarting with the Real Monarchswhere he scored two goals in three matches, until becoming a regular in the first team, where he has already accumulated 93 matches with 22 goals.

On the other hand, at the national team level, he has defended the under-14 and under-17 categories of the USAparticipating in the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship, but has not had any opportunity with the Absolute selection, so he still has the chance to wear the jersey of Mexicosomething he agreed he would like.

“Everyone wants to play internationally, it’s a dream for everyone. The door to Mexico is definitely not closed, it’s an open door. Of course, it will all depend on what is best for me, what is the best opportunity on a sporting level. I was with the United States at the U-20 World Cup and the CONCACAF U-20, all of that was great. It would be incredible to be able to achieve all of that at a more senior level with the USMNT. Any door and any opportunity, in due time, makes the door to Mexico open. I couldn’t close it.”he once said in an interview with The Athletic in December 2023.

And today, that great opportunity could have come to the midfielder, since, despite being a great promise, he was left out of the final list of The Stars and Stripes to dispute the Paris 2024 Olympic Gameswhich caused great surprise. This non-call-up was not taken very well by the Californian because he had gone through the whole process with the under-23, as indicated by the American journalist Tom Bogert.

Similarly, the communicator pointed out that after hearing the news, Team USA invited him to be part of the reserve team to train in case any injury occurred to those who were called up, which he refused. This could bring the player closer to the RSL to the Tricolor because some media have reported that the Femexfut keeps track of him.

Finally, some have commented that within the North American team there is xenophobia towards players with Mexican roots, which has caused elements with dual nationality to choose to distance themselves from the Team USA and represent Mexicojust as he did recently Obed Vargas.

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