Diego Luna became something of a U.S. men’s national team legend on Wednesday in what was only his second start for the team.
Luna and his Real Salt Lake teammate Emeka Eneli were called up to this month’s training camp, as the Deseret News previously reported. Both started in the U.S. match against Costa Rica on Wednesday.
Luna’s night certainly didn’t go as planned.
Early in the game, Luna took an elbow to the nose, which broke. The injury left him bloodied.
He had to leave the game and received treatment on the sideline.
There, he convinced head coach Mauricio Pochettino to let him go back into the game.
Pochettino obliged and even helped Luna put on a new, clean jersey.
To stop the bleeding, Luna stuffed cotton up his nose while he played.
Luna wasn’t going to let his bloody, broken nose ruin his second start.
Almost immediately after returning to the pitch, Luna received a pass at midfield and carried the ball another 20 yards before passing to Brian White, who scored to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead.
Luna stayed in the game until the beginning of the second half. Then his teammate Eneli had his own assist in the 77th minute.
The U.S. beat Costa Rica 3-0.
Is Diego Luna OK?
Late on Wednesday night, Luna posted a picture of him at the hospital on his Instagram story.
He said he had already had surgery and that he expects to be back on the field Monday.
He followed up Thursday with a post on Instagram, writing, “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.”
Wednesday night could be the start of a long, storied national team career for Luna. But until his next call up, Luna will return to Salt Lake.
Real Salt Lake starts its 21st season on Feb. 22 in San Jose, California, against the San Jose Earthquakes.