‘I was upset for him’: how Real Salt Lake reacted to Diego Luna’s USMNT exclusion

Luna and Zavier Gozo’s World Cup dreams ended with a Friday email from US Soccer Real Salt Lake coach Pablo Mastroeni was in disbelief. The US roster for the World Cup would include neither his team’s star playmaker Diego Luna nor their head-turning youngster, Zavier Gozo. While the uncapped Gozo was a late long shot to make the squad, Luna seemed a near-lock given his importance to the national team throughout 2025. Mastroeni knows the magnitude of these moments. As a player, he was the proverbial 23rd man in 2002, relaying that US coach Bruce Arena told him he’d made the roster as “a rah -ah guy.” Injuries and circumstance, plus his own approach, landed the midfielder in the lineup for the USMNT’s 3-2 win over Portugal to open group play as well as both of its ensuing knock-out matches. Continue reading...

Jeff Rueter in Saint Paul · Mon, May 25, 2026, 4:00 AM
US news | The Guardian

‘I was upset for him’: how Real Salt Lake reacted to Diego Luna’s USMNT exclusion

Luna and Zavier Gozo’s World Cup dreams ended with a Friday email from US Soccer

Real Salt Lake coach Pablo Mastroeni was in disbelief. The US roster for the World Cup would include neither his team’s star playmaker Diego Luna nor their head-turning youngster, Zavier Gozo. While the uncapped Gozo was a late long shot to make the squad, Luna seemed a near-lock given his importance to the national team throughout 2025.

Mastroeni knows the magnitude of these moments. As a player, he was the proverbial 23rd man in 2002, relaying that US coach Bruce Arena told him he’d made the roster as “a rah -ah guy.” Injuries and circumstance, plus his own approach, landed the midfielder in the lineup for the USMNT’s 3-2 win over Portugal to open group play as well as both of its ensuing knock-out matches.

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