ST. LOUIS — United States coach Mauricio Pochettino praised goal-scorer Diego Luna for being “desperate to play” for the national team after the winger scored twice in a 2-1 Gold Cup semifinal win over Guatemala on Wednesday.
“[His] attitude, hunger, desire, everything, and then for sure, the talent will appear. But that is what we expect from our athletes, that’s what we want,” Pochettino said after the match at Energizer Park.
“Diego was a good example from January [camp], how he is desperate to play for this shirt, for the national team, and that is why now he’s in the level that he showed.”
Luna, 21, scored in the fourth and 15th minutes of the semifinal that also featured plenty of attacking pressure from the Guatemalans in the final stages of each half. Following a goal from the visitors in the 80th minute, the U.S. was left to desperately defend its net ahead of the final whistle.
“I think we handled it very well, I think that it’s an amazing experience. I think this roster deserves massive, massive credit to arrive to the final,” Pochettino said. “Now we need to prepare for the next game.”
Luna, who now has three goals and two assists across five matches, was effusive in his praise for his U.S. teammates after the match.
“It’s the grit, it’s the determination that we’ve been lacking. To be honest, it’s fighting to the end. Every ball, every moment,” Luna said after the narrow victory. “The game’s about moments, and I think this is where we showcase it.”
Regarding the atmosphere that featured a majority Guatemala crowd, Pochettino applauded the visitors who turned the St. Louis venue into a raucous one, saying it was an example of what soccer culture is like around the world.
“An unbelievable energy. That is football, that is football,” the U.S. coach said. “When we say the connection between the fans and the team, that is the connection that we [would] like to see in the World Cup.
“You play for something more, you play for emotion, you play [to] be happy, be sad. I saw players of the Guatemala [team] crying. That is the way that we need to feel, and our fans need to feel the same.
“It’s good for our players, because when we talk about culture, that is culture. That is an important thing that we need to learn here in this country.”
Looking ahead, the U.S. will play Mexico in Sunday’s Gold Cup final at 7 p.m. ET at NRG Stadium in Houston.
Mexico is the all-time leader in Gold Cup titles with nine, while the USMNT is second with seven trophies.
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