Diego Luna scores twice as USMNT secures spot in Gold Cup final

The United States men s national soccer band turned a hot start on Wednesday night at Energizer Park and into win over Guatemala to reach the Gold Cup final This win marks the th time the U S has reached the Gold Cup final and they will face the winner of Mexico-Honduras to determine who wins it all on Sunday After needing a penalty shootout to reach the semifinals the USMNT hoped it didn t need to go that far against Guatemala and Diego Luna led the way to the - win CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COMIt began in the fourth minute when Luna was in the right place at the right time after a shot on net was saved His one-two touch went right into the back of the net for the early lead UNEXPECTED DRONE OPERATED BY UNIDENTIFIED PARTY SIGHTED NEAR USMNT TRAINING GROUNDS REPORTSBut just a limited minutes later Luna really gave the USMNT several breathing room after a tremendous effort to extend the lead Malik Tillman got the assist after Luna made one defender miss and launched a shot toward the left side of the net that got past the goalkeeper for a - lead It was mostly silent as the first half ended and the second half minutes started to dwindle for Guatemala However a timely goal brought chosen momentum to their sideline Olger Escobar got a ball past Matt Freese to make it a - contest in the th minute But the USMNT s defense was stellar at the end of the match to make sure they came away victorious The U S is hoping to win its eighth Gold Cup while Mexico if they defeat Honduras would be looking to extend its title lead They have nine all-time Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter