18-Year-Old El Paso Locomotive FC Midfielder Diego Luna was named to the USL Championship All-League Second team, the league announced today, after a standout professional debut year that saw him earn nine goals and five assists.
Luna is the first El Paso Locomotive FC player to be named to the USL Championship All-League Team.
Since joining El Paso Locomotive FC from the prestigious Barcelona Academy in Arizona at the beginning of the 2021 USL Championship season, Diego has had a standup season, proving himself to be one of the brightest rising stars in the U.S. Soccer world. Diego made his professional debut against New Mexico United as a late game sub, coming onto the pitch in the 78th minute and immediately making an impact. Diego broke past United defenders to send in a cross that found Aaron Gomez, who put the ball back in the path of Leandro Carrijo with one touch for the opening goal. Less than one month later, Diego earned his first professional goal against Austin Bold FC – the game winner in the 56th minute.
Through the 2021 USL Championship season, Diego Luna has gone on to earn nine goals with five assists, while leading the team in chances created with 37 to help lift Locomotive to winning not only the Mountain Division but the Copa Tejas Cup and Shield.
Diego Luna’s work in the midfield earned the young player three USL Championship Team of the Week accolades in 2021, once on the bench and twice in the Starting XI. The 18-year-old capped off his first professional year with an international duty call-up to the U.S. Men’s Under-20 National Team to compete in the inaugural Revelations Cup in Mexico. With the USMNT U-20s, Luna represented club and country in just under 120 minutes of play, earning a goal against the Mexican U-20s.
See the full list of USL Championship All-League Second Team below:
GOALKEEPER: Matt van Oekel (Birmingham Legion FC)
DEFENDERS: Aaron Guillen (Tampa Bay Rowdies); James Musa (Phoenix Rising FC); Mark Segbers (Memphis 901 FC); Josh Yaro (San Diego Loyal SC)
MIDFIELDERS: Jose Gallegos (San Antonio FC); Kenardo Forbes (Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC); Diego Luna (El Paso Locomotive FC);
FORWARDS: Neco Brett (Birmingham Legion FC); Cameron Lancaster (Louisville City FC); Kyle Murphy (Memphis 901 FC);