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Diego Luna’s first half double sent the US into the Gold Cup final after beating Guatemala 2-1 at Enalgeiser Park.
USMNT has made its 13th final in the competition after missing out in 2023, making sure it never missed a showpiece match in consecutive editions.
Luna was the fastest to respond when a shot of Luca de la Torre was paralyzed by Kenderson Navarro.
He then doubled his and American tally 11 minutes later, collecting Malik Tillman’s pass, then brilliantly cut the inside from the left and picked up the corner at the bottom.
The 21-year-old became the fourth US player to score multiple goals in the first 15 minutes of a knockout match, and his team never looked back.
The tournament co-hosts stubbornly defended for the rest of the contest, but their backline was late violated to set a nervous finish in St. Louis.
Arquimides Ordonez and Olger Escobar combined to cut the deficit by half, the latter cleaning the ball beyond Matt Freese, but the US managed to hold it.
Data Debrief: Return to perch
After a difficult time in the Mauricio Pockettino era heading into the tournament, USMNT found its feet under Argentina and is now one of the games of glory.
And it was Luna who set them on the way as his braces achieved three goals in his first two competitive knockout matches, with the second US player behind Haji Wright setting them up halfway through.
In fact, the US has now won all 11 competitive home matches against Guatemala, a game with a record 100% against opponents in the team’s history.
They also ensured they remained unbeaten in the match being played in St. Louis. They are currently playing 13 games without a loss in Missouri City (W10 D3). This is the longest winning streak in a single city in the team’s history.