Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - Gratitude, ambition and fatherhood with Diego Luna

Episode Date: February 3, 2024

The Real Salt Lake live wire joined the pod to talk about how he improved between 2022 and 2023, his stint moonlighting behind the counter at Dutch Bros, his first cap for the USMNT, the gratitude he still feels for many of the veterans at the El Paso Locomotive, having a newborn son and his ambitions for the future.Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon! Patrons get a private feed for the Monday Review, which is, among other things, a run-down of club action for national team players every week with Watke and Vince. We have recently added patron-only content that’s available every Friday. Patrons also get access to our private Discord server, live call-in shows, and the full catalog of historic recaps we've made: https://www.patreon.com/scuffed OTHER LINKSScuffed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAoundrEkZUgZ13IE5XIqrg We’ve streamlined and revamped the merch we’re selling. Check it out: https://www.scuffedhq.com/store Scuffed on Discord: https://discord.gg/X6tfzkM8XU Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus any bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the field we discuss on the show, plus all patrons get access to our private Discord server, live call-in shows, and the full catalog of historic recaps we've made: https://www.patreon.com/scuffedAlso, check out Boots on the Ground, our USWNT-focused spinoff podcast headed up by Tara and Vince. They are cooking over there, you can listen here: https://boots-on-the-ground.simplecast.comAnd check out our MERCH, baby. We have better stuff than you might think: https://www.scuffedhq.com/store Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the Scuff podcast, where we talk about U.S. Soccer. Our guest today is a real fan favorite among Scuff listeners. He is a native of Sunnyvale, California. It has been reported that he listens to sad music to prepare for soccer games. He notched five goals in an assist and half a season for Rayall Salt Lake last year. He may be the only professional soccer player to have also worked as an employee of Dutch bros while he played professional soccer. And he got his first cap with the USA a couple weeks ago versus Slovenia. Diego Luna, welcome to Scuff.

Awesome. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it, man. Thanks, man. So we got to go fast here. Do you still work at Dutch Bros? No, not anymore. You did it for like just a few months when you first? Yeah, I did it for about six, seven months when I first got to Utah. Okay. All right. Did your coworkers know that you were a famous soccer player? No, they didn't know, but word got around as soon as I, you know, got the job and started showing my face. People started to recognize me.

So Word got around quick, but they weren't super fans of soccer and stuff. But they knew, of course, who R.S. was. So, yeah. That must have been kind of nice. Yeah, definitely. It was definitely nice to get away and not really think about soccer and kind of put your mind in a different place. That's so cool that you did that.

Yeah. Did your teammates know that you were doing it? No, nobody knew, but sooner than later, you know, word got around somewhere, and there was little rumors there and that. And yeah, it got around and then there was just little jokes about it and stuff. So, yeah.

How did you, this is a question from Brian B, but how did you earn the trust of Pablo this past season? You made a big step forward from 22 to 23. How did you earn his trust? Yeah, I think it was just a lot of hard work and training in the minutes that I got in games. I think it was, you know, showing the attitude of not getting,

but continue to training hard. And I think it was going to the USU20 World Cup with not a lot of minutes under my belt in 23, but in then showcasing myself at the World Cup to then show the coach and show people who I am and then being able to come back here and getting my chance and taking a hold of it and showcasing myself and making sure that I'm working hard. And my defensive work was there while also giving the team attacking chances. Did you notice a change in your role when Chichot came to RSL? Like what, if anything?

Also, so two-part question. What, if anything, have you learned from him directly or just by playing next to someone with that quality? Yeah, I think, I don't think my role has changed. I think I'm going to continue to play how I play and create chances from my team. And I think, yeah, it's been helpful to have, you know, a 2009 and someone with such, you know, Of course, you're playing with somebody with such high quality that, you know, hopefully this year I can get them a lot of more, a lot more goals and get myself a lot more assist. Right.

And I think we just need to build the chemistry together with connecting and stuff like that. But overall, it's been good. Okay. Would you jumping around a little bit here, but would you recommend USL as a development path for other young players who want to be successful in MLS or maybe even go to Europe someday? Recommended is an interesting word, I'd say. It worked for me. It worked for Fidel coming into RSL. It worked for many others that are now playing in Europe,

that are now playing in MLS teams. But there's also a lot of other kids that have had success going straight to MLS. A lot of other kids having success going to college, then to MLS. A lot of kids, you know, going straight from Academy to Europe. You know, there's a lot of routes, and I think it's all just dependent on the player, all dependent on how they see themselves as a player, what their goals are, and what's right for the player. If they think they're ready for the jump, I think a lot of it is having people around you that also you can trust that can see what's best for you and the output of things, because in your head you might be ready, I'm ready for Europe, I'm ready for this now. And, you know, there's other people that are like, I don't think, let's take this step first and let's see how you do there.

And then we can go there. And I think it's all about just the situation when you're in and having people and advice from other people around you. And staying humble enough to realize where you really meant to go next, I think is a big thing. Who do you rely on for that kind of guidance? Yeah. I think lucky for me, I was at, I've had my, my oldest brother. is someone that's definitely been there with me, coach me while I was in club soccer back in

California. And then around me, I've always been surrounded at Barsa Academy, the people there, Jed Quinn, you know, the Barsa Academy Director, there's the coaches there, all the staff there at Barsa really helped me decide, you know, the luckily, you know, the agents, friends that I was with, players my age, we'd always talk about these things and very had deep conversations about what's the right path for me, what is necessary for me at this moment. What do I need to get to the next level? And yeah, I think I'd say my oldest brother, Armando, is someone that has definitely helped me and been there to humble me,

but also to give me the boost that I need. Like, no, you're ready for this step, but let's make sure that you work hard on these things to make sure you're ready for this step. And let's make sure you do better here than all these kind of things. And maybe he told me sometimes that I wasn't ready for these big steps because there were things I needed to work on to be there. So it was definitely a good, you know, voice in my head to have. How many siblings do you have if you don't mind me asking? I got four siblings, two older brothers and one older sister, all older by more than 10 years.

Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah, so I'm 20. My sister's 30 Older brother is 33 And my oldest brother is 43 That's awesome Yeah

I have a sister who's 12 years younger than me So yeah Yeah Oh nice, there you go Let me show you a clip And you tell me what you remember from it I think it'll show up Trying to find something

Serve to the backposts And the opener goes to El Paso The loco find the goal the 17-year-old Diego Luna finds the opening goal the 56th minute

Do you remember that? Yeah, I do remember that I brought a smile to my face right away That was awesome Yeah, that's my first professional goal For El Paso And yeah, that It was an awesome feeling, dude,

freaking, yeah, I don't know how to explain it. It was something that I think it's summarizes my experience at El Paso, the joy that I had in that moment. And, you know, you saw after the goal, everybody jumped on me. Everybody was so excited for me. Everybody was having fun there.

And it just shows the team that was there for me that really knew. And all those played believed in me and believed in who I could be. So it's just amazing, man. I said it before. I couldn't have asked for somewhere better to start my professional career than at El Paso with those guys. You know, guys, I can name them, Richie Ryan, Yuma, Leandro Cario, that played for choirs. And all the time, those guys, men, were unbelievable leaders, but unbelievable guys to me.

And that really led me, veterans that really led me in the right direction. And Mark Lowry, as the coach, really, you know, he coached me so well at a young age to know when to be on me, but also know when to let me be a teen and let me be who Diego Luna is to express myself on the field. I also knew when to like snap at me to get me back into the game, focus and stuff. He did everything well and I think everything at El Paso was, you know, everything there was a dream. You know, there was nothing that that really brought me down. And if there was, you know, there was so much good to cover for it. So I think it was a, yeah, it's, it's.

makes me really happy just seeing that video. Yeah, cool, cool. It's awesome that you had such a good experience there. Yeah. Has being a new father, this is a question from Tara, who's one of my co-hosts, has being a new father changed your perspective or your goals at all on the field? Does moving to Europe eventually still feel possible, or is that still an ambition? A hundred percent, I think.

Yeah. It's definitely changed how things are, but it hasn't changed them that much. You know, like it hasn't changed my goals. It hasn't changed aspirations or anything like that. It's only given me the motivation to work harder. There's a new switch in my brain that hasn't, I have no idea was even possible. You know, I have a son, right? And looking at them, I just see like myself, a younger version of myself.

And there's this love that, you know, you have no idea you're capable of having. And five months ago, I had no idea. So, you know, I think it's only given me motivation. And, you know, I think it's difficult, of course, having a newborn, having a young son to look after and stuff. But everything in life is doable. I think moving to Europe, no problem. It's just going to be a little harder.

You know, you got someone to take care of. You have a little, you know, just something that's there. but it's nothing, having a son or daughter is not going to stop your aspirations if you're really determined for it. It's just going to be a little bit more difficult to stuff to handle, to travel with, all these type of things. And that's the life. You know, it's all for sacrifices and for stuff that hopefully gets returned to you

with success in the end. Is he smiling at you yet? Yep. Awesome. It's unbelievable. Yeah. It's awesome, man. I think, you know, times like this, it's tough.

You know, I can't imagine guys that, you know, I've left, you know, I've been away from him for a while with the camp. And then now with preseason, it's hard. It's very difficult. So getting on FaceTime as much as you can and stuff like that, it means the world. But it's very difficult because you just see him there and he's smiling at you through the phone and stuff. It's awesome, yeah. Yeah, because I didn't mention this, but you're in Portugal right now, right now, right? Yeah, we're in Portugal.

right now, yeah. And when do you come back? Next Sunday. Okay. So we still got another week here, yeah. Is things going well? I see the videos on Twitter. Yeah.

No, yeah. Everything here has been good. We have our first match tomorrow versus Brombie. So we'll see how that goes. But yeah, everything's been good, good weather. Nice field.

And it's really good to be with the guys, build some chemistry and stuff. So it's nice. So how was the game in San Antonio? the USA game. Your first senior cap, we didn't get the result, but you did some good stuff in that game, made some things happen.

Yeah, I think it was, it was the interesting game. We had a lot of guys who knew caps, a lot of guys that, you know, wanted to have a good game and wanted to play, you know, safe, wanted to play, you know, just to make sure that they had a good first cap. So I think it went well. I think there was a lot of nerves in the game. but I think, you know, I didn't get the ball as much as I wanted to.

So I think I started to drop lower to get the ball a little bit, but I still didn't feel like it was enough. But I had a couple of plays that I showcased myself, but I wish there was more that I could do and more that I could show. But after all, it is what it is, right? And I think we move on to the next thing. But, you know, the experience was awesome. I had a great time.

Two weeks was nice, unbelievable. With Coach Greg, it was awesome. He made everything very clear. It made it very simple for us to go out on the field and execute what he wanted and to showcase ourselves. So I think everything was good. So what did he tell you and the rest of the coaching staff tell you about your performance

and what do they want you to work on moving forward? Like, what's the message from them after that camp to you? Yeah, I think it was just like they wanted. me to drop in more to get the ball. And that they were, that's how we were having success is, is I was getting the ball, dropping in to get to, to get me on the ball and, and do that more often. And I think that they said I played well, but just to, to do that more often and, and

make myself more of a threat to the other team. But overall, I think it was good. And I think it's something we take, right? And hopefully now we work harder with RSA to make sure that that wasn't my, my last, you know, call it. Has the Mexican, you knew I was going to ask this, has the Mexican Federation reached out to you? And how does their recruitment compare to U.S. recruitment?

Yeah, I don't, you know, really focus on, or I don't really have contact with any of that. It usually goes through my agent. Okay. So I really can't say about if or if not or how is it, because I've only brought into that conversation when something is 100% official or something is, you know,

very, very important at that moment. So, you know, if you want, you can contact my agent. Yeah, no, I really have no idea about what goes on with stuff like that because he just handles that. And I think that's good because it lets me just focus on soccer and that's it. Everybody always panics, you know,

when there's anybody with dual nationality. So, and, and I'm serious. When I say you're a fan favorite, I said like people who listen to our podcast love Diego Luna. Like you're the, you're their favorite youth national team player. And speaking of which, here's something from, uh, uh,

I don't have it. Somebody said, did you know you were my favorite player as soon as you scored against Mexico and, and kissed the badge? Um, there's, let's see. I got, like, I think I can get like three more questions in here.

Um, Klosopher. asks, what's your understanding of how the Olympics roster will be constructed? Is leadership thinking of it and Copa as separate rosters, or should we expect continuity? Is it like two different teams? You know what I mean? Yeah, I think it's, yeah, we have Copa America, we have the Olympics, we have all these tournaments coming up, and I think, of course, I have no idea about how it's going to be picked and, you know, it's all up to the staff and how they're going to work this out. But of course, my goal is to make one of those rosters.

And I think with the Olympics, I think it's usually, right, a U-23 team kind of with some three or four main players. And that's up to whoever they want to bring, right? It could be, you know, it could be a goal. It could be centerbacks. It could be a forward. You know, it's all dependent on how they see it and how they want it. And who wants to play in the Olympics, right? That's also a very big deal.

So I think it's all dependent on. on what the staff sees and what's their way of seeing in these things. So, yeah. Okay. Great. As a player who likes to combine a lot, how is it going from a club where you practice with the same guys all the time to a national team where you see guys maybe once a year or maybe a few more times?

And like you said, everybody's a little nervous. How is that, talk about that challenge a little bit of playing the same way with the different group of people. Yeah. definitely hard, but it doesn't take away from the style of play. It's just integrating it into a different style of play with other players. I think it's realizing who you're playing with has to change your mindset really quick. You have a player that likes to running behind, a player that likes to check and go. You, me, individually have to switch that in my mind and realize that this player might not want to combine. This player wants to, wants to ball in behind. So it's stuff like

that on realizing who you're playing with and that can be determined on the first day, first day, second day, and for the rest of the camp, you'll realize that. But also, you have small talks with guys and be like, hey, when I come here, I want you to check in, check and go, I want you to do one-toos, stuff like that. And guys will slowly start to get it. And it's all just same thing. That doesn't take away anything from you, but it's just about, you know, integrating into different styles of play because every guy is different.

And if you want success, you're going to have to help your teammate get success because it's not just, you know, you do a one-two and he's not going to play it back. What does that leave you? You know, you got to both work together to make something happen. Okay, a few rapid-fire questions here real quick. Trace asks, which soccer player, current or retired, do you think you play similarly to? That's a very tricky question. I've been asked a lot, but I don't think there's maybe someone very similar, but I'd say,

one my favorite soccer player growing up watching and still now who's having a great season is Marco Royce is someone that you know I grew up watching and somebody I just like the style creativity and just uh yeah yeah he is he's very creative um Jackie asks what is your favorite tattoo favorite tattoo favorite tattoo I don't want I don't have one of my son yet so that one's what is next but uh you know I got my Yeah, I got my mom's name and stuff, but I got my legs done that are pretty cool. So I got the Joker on my leg and Bain from Batman. So those are two cool villains that are on my leg.

He's going to love that answer. More Buildings and Food Ask, if you could play one 90-minute match alongside one retired American player, who would it be? Lennon Donovan. Okay. And then last question. Scott asks, let's say everything works out perfectly for you. for the next five years. MLS All-Star,

magical run in the MLS playoffs, stats off the charts, highest transfer fee in RSL history, 2026 World Cup roster, and a regular contributor for the national team. Given that in five years, what club are you playing for?

Besides RSL, obviously RSO is great. That's, you know, he said basically all my long-term goals right there, so it was pretty cool to hear. What club are playing for? This is a hard question. I know.

I'd say maybe like, yeah, like a Bruce Adornman, Man City. All right. Yeah, one of those teams are a top division team in Netherlands, in Belgium, Anderlecht, PSV. Yeah, one of those teams. Okay. We got to go. I think you got to go to dinner with the team, but. Perfect, yeah.

Thank you, Diego for doing this. Thanks everybody for listening. We'll see ya.