From the Moon to All-Star: RSL's Diego Luna named replacement player for MLS annual showcase
The dynamic Real Salt Lake midfielder with five goals and 12 assists was one of two replacement players named to the 2024 MLS All-Star Game, July 24 at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio.
Real Salt Lake will send a second player to the MLS All-Star Game in Columbus, Ohio, after all.
Just a few days after RSL striker Chicho Arango was suspended four matches — including the all-star game and Leagues Cup opener, along with Saturday’s Rocky Mountain Cup finale — for a violation of league anti-harassment policies, Major League Soccer named his replacement.
And It’s a familiar name to RSL fans.
Diego Luna will join RSL homegrown defender Justen Glad in the league’s annual selection of 30 top players that will face the best of Liga MX at Lower.com Field.
Luna, 20, joins Colorado’s Moise Bombito at replacement players for unavailable call ups, the league announced.
The RSL duo will be the first Salt Lake All-Stars since Damir Kreilach in 2021, and the first time the club has sent multiple selections to the game since Nick Rimando and Tony Beltran in 2015.
In his third season with RSL, “Moon Boy” has already broken out for an MLS career-best 12 goals to go along with five assists in the club’s first 22 matches. Luna’s dozen dimes are tied for the third-most in MLS this season, behind only FC Cincinnati’s Lucho Acosta (17) and Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi (13).
Acosta was named captain of the MSL All-Stars earlier Friday over a group of contenders that also included Messi, Arango and Columbus forward Cucho Hernandez.
Here’s a look at RSL’s two all-stars, courtesy of Real Salt Lake Communications.
MF Diego Luna
1st MLS All-Star Selection (3rd MLS Season)
Coach’s Selection
Country of Birth: United States
Born: September 7, 2003 (Age 20)
• RSL playmaker Diego Luna is just 3 goal contributions away from joining captain Chicho Arango (17 goals / 11 assists) and dynamic winger Andrés Gómez (12 goals / 9 assists) in the 20+ goal contribution club this season … Should Luna add three goal contributions in the remaining 10 matches of 2024, RSL would be the first MLS side since 2018 with three players at 20+ goal contributions in a single campaign.
• Luna – now with five goals / 12 assists this season – provided three assists in a single game on July 6 (5-2 win) for the second time this season, something that has occurred just four times in RSL’s history … In addition to Diego’s triple-assist match back on March 2 at home against LAFC (3-0 win), Pablo Ruiz accomplished the feat in 2023, with Fabian Espindola back in 2012 the first RSL player to secure three assists in an MLS match.
• With both Chicho (17 goals) and Andrés Gómez (11 goals) securing double-digit goal totals this season, RSL has a pair of 10+ scorers in a single season for the first time since 2021 (Kreilach, 16 goals; Rusnák, 11 goals). Should Luna (five goals), Julio (six goals) or another player reach double-digits, RSL would also have a 10+ goal-scoring trio for the first time ever.
DF Justen Glad
1st MLS All-Star Selection (11th MLS Season)
Voted In by Fans, Players, Media
Country of Birth: United States
Born: February 28, 1997 (Age 27)
• Glad has been an integral part of Real Salt Lake’s Supporters’ Shield charge in 2024, the club’s homegrown poster boy having started all 15 matches in which he’s appeared for the club this season.
• The homegrown defender is now playing in his 11th overall season with RSL, having made his debut in 2015. Glad has appeared in 230 games for the club, the sixth-most overall, playing 20,006 minutes while adding 13 goals. Glad could soon surpass both Chris Wingert (20,216) and Tony Beltran (20,652) in career minutes played, and would trail only Club icons Kyle Beckerman (29,940) and Nick Rimando (33,078) in the category.
• The longest-tenured player on the current Real Salt Lake squad, Glad has gone on to set countless club records throughout this career, including being the first homegrown to don the captain’s armband, as well as the first to reach both the 100- and 200-games played milestones. Last season, Glad became the first Homegrown to be named Real Salt Lake’s Most Valuable Player, as voted by his locker-room peers.