Player Spotlight: Luna and Glad Shine Bright in Columbus

RSL’s All-Star duo marveled at the heart of yet another landmark occasion and celebration of the culture and growth of the beautiful game on the North American continent

Lights, camera, stars, action…

It was a blockbuster, star-studded week at this year’s MLS All-Star celebration as the best of the best across North America’s footballing spheres convened in Columbus, Ohio, to participate in yet another vibrant, exciting All-Star festival and competition, in what has become one of the most exciting and eagerly anticipated events on the MLS calendar.

The League’s flagship social footballing spectacle is an annual contest pitting the best players in Major League Soccer typically against the best players from Liga BBVA MX, Mexico's top professional soccer division. The event first features a skills challenge where top players compete and showcase their talents in a series of skills-based tasks and competitions, held the day before the main showcase - a spellbinding 90-minute one-off game between both teams offering fans a thrilling match filled with memorable moments in a celebration of the beautiful game and the growing, vibrant soccer culture in North America.

30 different players born in 18 different countries, and from 18 different MLS clubs, made up the roster for the MLS All-Star team, and flying the Claret-and-Cobalt banner high on the night to the rest of the watching world were first-time All-Stars **Diego Luna** and Justen Glad. The pair, representing RSL’s first All-Star selections since 2021, finally made their eagerly awaited All-Star debuts this week with Luna also participating in the skills challenge in Tuesday’s precursor, and both then seeing pitch action during the first half of an enthralling 90-minute contest at Lower.com Field on Wednesday night. Luna’s inclusion also made him the youngest player on the roster at just 20 years old.

The event also featured a special, graceful appearance from Luna’s toddler-age son Manolo, who stole the hearts of fans with his innocence, charming smiles, and infectious laughter, adding a delightful touch to the event - certainly for RSL observers.

Luna Dazzles in All-Star Skills Challenge

Major League Soccer, LIGA MX, and special guests competed in the 2024 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge presented by AT&T on Tuesday, July 23, at 5:30 pm MT. In this precursor event to the showpiece contest, RSL’s diminutive creator-in-chief marveled alongside a litany of national and global footballing colleagues as one of the eight players who represented the MLS on the night at Lower.com field in Columbus, Ohio.

Steeped amongst legends such as Champions League-winning duo Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, World Cup-winning goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, and former Juventus and Euro 2020-winning attacker, Federico Bernadeschi, the young man known affectionately as “Moon Boy” shone as brightly as the moon itself and the stars on Tuesday night, helping the MLS side entertain in the annual midsummer duel between North America’s two biggest soccer leagues.

Luna participated in the touch challenge, the second test of the night, as one of the passers in the second round for Cucho Hernandez (Columbus Crew) and Luciano Acosta (FC Cincinnati) who served as the receivers and shooters for that round, and helping the MLS to a 137-119 victory over two rounds.

Luna also then participated in the cross-and-volley challenge as one of the crossers, most notably delivering an inch-perfect cross to Bernadeschi (Toronto FC) who rifled home into the top right corner to put the MLS ahead in the contest before ultimately succumbing to a narrow defeat over two rounds, but it was Moon Boy’s moment to shine and no one was going to take that away from him.

All-Star Game Recap

With the Skills challenge successfully navigated, the biggest footballing stars from Major League Soccer and LIGA MX all convened for a second time at Lower.com field, on Wednesday, for the ultimate event, an enthralling 90-minute contest between the best of the best, the crème de la crème of players from both distinguished leagues for an ultimate decider of the bragging rights to the footballing seat of power in the North American hemisphere.

RSL homegrown defender Justen Glad was voted in by the fans, selected to start at the heart of defense for the MLS alongside Thiago Martins (New York City FC), while Luna entered from the bench as a first-half impact substitute. Glad yet again delivered a typically near-flawless performance in defense - something RSL fans will be accustomed to - providing crucial blocks and a series of important tackles and defensive actions to curtail opposition attacks and keep the MLS in with a chance in the game, most notably providing an impressive block as early as the 13th minute to deny André-Pierre Gignac (Tigres UANL) what looked like a goal-bound curling effort, then again midway through the half with a decisive tackle to deny Germán Berterame (Monterrey) a one-on-one opportunity in the penalty area against Roman Bürki (St. Louis City SC). RSL’s long-serving centerback played the entirety of the first half before being taken off at halftime, making a total of 23 successful passes at a percentage accuracy of an astounding 100%. A thoroughly impressive, exemplary contribution.

With Glad already on the pitch, Luna was then introduced to join his RSL teammate midway through the first half as a 26th-minute substitute for Portland Timbers midfielder Evander. Moon Boy equally dazzled in front of the watching global audience with his usual tricks, skills, silky smooth passes, and typical metronomic control and even had a chance to crown his performance with a goal it would have deserved in the 46th minute when a cross from Jordi Alba (Inter Miami) fell to Luna near the edge of the box who took a touch before releasing a spectacular half-volley which was saved by Luis Malagón (América). RSL’s diminutive creator played the rest of the first half following his midway introduction, making a total of 10 successful passes at an accuracy of 83 percent, before coming off at halftime to a raucous online support from the RSL faithful.

With the RSL duo off, the MLS would eventually fall 1-4 to the Liga MX All-Stars in a pulsating, spellbinding encounter. Liga MX took the lead as early as the 16th minute through a header from Berterame from inside the penalty area that sneaked past Bürki for the opening goal of the contest. Columbus Crew teammates Diego Rossi and Hernández then combined to pull the MLS level barely a minute later, but Liga MX eventually retook the lead four minutes before halftime through a well-curled long-range effort from Oussama Idrissi (Pachuca).

Liga MX then doubled their lead in the second half when Juan Brunetta (Tigres UANL) tapped into an empty net from close range in the 68th minute, before Maximiliano Meza (Monterrey) rounded the scoring with a close-range finish from inside the box to put the icing on the cake and seal the victory for Mexico’s top-flight division.

All in all, it represented yet another landmark moment in the history of the All-Star games as well as the beautiful game in North America, in front of a record 20,931 attendance at Lowder.com field, as the sport and culture continue its stratospheric growth on the continent, and RSL’s All-Star duo was right there at the heart of it.

RSL welcome Atlas FC (Liga MX) to America First Field for the Claret-and-Cobalt’s 2024 Leagues Cup campaign curtain-raiser on Thursday, August 1. Kickoff is at 7 PM MT.