Diego Luna scored twice in the first 15 minutes and the U.S. men’s national team held on for a 2-1 victory over Guatemala in St. Louis on Wednesday to advance to the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Luna tallied in the fourth and 15th minutes before Olger Escobar made it 2-1 in the 80th minute.
American goalkeeper Matt Freese made five saves, including a diving stop at the left post on Joes Morales in the second minute of second-half stoppage time.
The U.S. will play either Honduras or Mexico, who play later Thursday, on Sunday in Houston.
Luna, a 5-foot-8 Real Salt Lake midfielder, scored his first U.S. goal on Sunday against Costa Rica and leads the team in goal contributions in 2025 with seven (three goals, four assists).
At this time a year ago, he was miffed that he was not selected of the U.S. Olympic team for the Paris Games.
Now, he is a mainstay, at least for this iteration of a team that does not include most of the European-based players. Still, Luna appears to be playing his way onto the roster for the 2026 World Cup.
He opened the scoring with his quick reaction to rebound of a long shot by Luca de la Torre. Goalkeeper Kenderson Navarro fumbled the ball straight to Luna, who brought it down with his right foot before delivering a left-footed strike.
Luna silenced the pro-Guatemala even further with his laser from 22 yards after taking a pass from Malik Tillman.
The desperate Guatemalans dominated the rest of the half, outshooting the U.S. 12-2 over the final 20 minutes.
Navarro was the story early in the second half as the U.S. looked for a third goal. First, he parried a header by Patrick Agyemang in the 62nd minute, then two minutes later Agyemang broke free but couldn’t get the ball past the keeper.
The saves proved huge when Escobar dribbled to the top of the box and slipped a shot through several Americans.
This was the nations’ first-ever meeting in a Gold Cup knockout round and Guatemala’s first appearance in a Gold Cup semifinal since 1996.
— Field Level Media
