Diego Luna put the nail in the game for Real Salt Lake. Two goals in the space of five minutes turned a home losing run into joy. The team had beaten LA Galaxy 2-0, and the most significant name in the game was the 21-year-old midfielder's. He completed Alexandros Katranis's low-keyed cross for the first goal and, within minutes, turned the second goal into Zanka's mistake. RSL fans can celebrate with a victory, three points, and a gasping team.
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A running midfielder who creates and nips
Pablo Mastroeni coach did not pull any punches. He did not try to make it sound nice. "What I saw was a guy who wanted to battle for the team, I saw a guy who was doing slide tackles, double back presssing," he stated.
Three goals, two assists, seven games. But as much as the numbers hold true, they don't tell the whole story. Most remarkable is the leadership he's taken on in the group. At 21, he became Real Salt Lake's primary offensive point man. One statistic illustrates it well: he became the youngest player in team history to reach the 15 goals and 15 assists threshold. In a team still searching for consistency, Luna was the center of gravity. And when he twirls, the team twirls along with him.
RSL catches its breath and wins again with force
Real Salt Lake had been through a rough patch and needed to turn it around. Beyond the goals, the way the team dominated an old-fashioned opponent leaves one wondering if maybe there's more to come. "If we continue to get these types of performances out of Diego Luna, things are going to change very quickly for the group," Mastroeni ventured. Of course, soccer is a team sport, but Saturday's game was one of those in which a player lifts up the players around him.
Luna is not just a standout in numbers. He's been taking up more space as a leader in the squad. Young as he is, he's already proven to be one of the most dominant players in the Real Salt Lake squad. "I still think I'm a leader who shows it by how I'm playing and how I work with the ball at my feet. I believe it is nice to show the other guys and talk to them, to boost their confidence or help them in their plays and so on." The sentence is simple, but it shows he already receives the role that he has with the team.
Luna is no longer just talent anymore, he's a protagonist. He is no longer a promise but a point of reference. He started carrying a group on his shoulders in tight times. At age 21, he plays at age 28. And that kind of maturity, with everyone's already acknowledged ability, puts him in another plane of talk. In MLS, he already is an elite. Outside it, he is a hot sound for the USA men's future national team.