Real Salt Lake Trio Called into Youth National Team Setups

HERRIMAN, Utah (Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024) – A trio of Real Salt Lake players – attacker Dominik Marczuk (Poland U-21), goalkeeper Gavin Beavers (USA U-20) and winger Zavier Gozo (USA U-19) – have each been called into international duty during the ongoing FIFA break, joining their respective youth national team camps and returning to the MLS side ahead of the Sat., Oct. 19 “Decision Day” against Vancouver. Tickets for playoff-bound RSL’s regular-season finale at America First Field are available at www.RSL.com/Tickets.

Marczuk – the 2023-24 Polish Ekstraklasa Young Player of the Season with Jagiellonia Bialystok, who transferred to RSL during the August MLS secondary window – returns to the Poland U-21 side as part of its UEFA U-21 Euro Qualification competition, with upcoming matches against Kosovo (away) on Fri., Oct. 11 and against Germany (home) on Tues., Oct. 15. Since his arrival in Utah, Marczuk has appeared in all seven RSL/MLS games for which he has been eligible, starting each of the last five, providing one goal and one assist.

Dominik is the first-ever Polish player in RSL’s 20-year history, and the 21st from a UEFA country, joining Greek DF Alex Katranis and Portuguese MF Diogo Gonçalves as 2024 European additions. He is believed to be the 26th Polish player to sign with an MLS team in the North American league’s 29-year history, and the sixth active Polish player for MLS’ 2024 season, joining Mateusz Bogusz (LAFC), Mateusz Klich (DCU), Sebastian Kowalczyk (HOU), Bartosz Slisz (ATL) and Karol Swiderski (CLT).

Beavers arrives for his first USA U-20 camp of the 2024 calendar year, the 19-year-old Henderson, Nev. native starting and playing the full 90 in 13 Major League Soccer matches for RSL across reg. season, Leagues Cup and U.S. Open Cup competitions this season. Beavers has posted a six-win, three-loss, one-draw record in MLS play for RSL, notching three clean sheets along the way. The USA U-20 camp featuring Beavers and a pair of friendly matches against South America power Chile to be played on Oct. 12 and 15 – takes place in Santiago, Chile, where the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup will be played next Fall.

Gozo has been called into the USA U-19 camp in Valencia, Spain, where the group will face Sweden on Friday, Oct. 11 and Japan next Tuesday, Oct. 15 in a pair of preparatory matches, with the entirety of this team also eligible for next Fall’s 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Gozo – one of nine players in the group on MLS Homegrown contracts – scored in three consecutive games down the MLS NEXT Pro stretch for Real Monarchs, which narrowly missed out on the eighth and final postseason berth with a 2-1 shootout win last Sunday.

Beavers and Gozo represent the RSL ethos of “Winning Together Through Development,” following a long list of Homegrown RSL Academy products to have matriculated through the Herriman-based system, honing skills with the USL / MLS NEXT Pro pathways and earning MLS contracts, along with youth national team recognition and international competitions. Justen Glad, Bode Hidalgo, Andrew Brody, Tommy Silva and Erik Holt are HG players which have appeared in prominent MLS minutes in recent seasons, while JazielOrozco, Zack Farnsworth, Delentz Pierre, Axel Kei, Luca Moisa, Luis Rivera and Jude Wellings currently utilize the MLS NEXT Pro option with Real Monarchs.

Real Salt Lake (15-7-11, 56 pts., t-3rd West) enjoys an international break this weekend, with the Oct. 19 MLS “Decision Day” tilt against former icon Damir Kreilach and the Vancouver Whitecaps offering several opportunities for Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni and the 2024 group. With a home win over Vancouver, RSL would establish a new all-time single-season record of 59 points, breaking the 57 earned in 2012. The full three points would also guarantee RSL one of eight currently available MLS berths in the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup to be played next year, the Utah side’s first involvement in continental competition since the 2015/16 CCL, which saw RSL drop a Quarterfinal series to Tigres (LIGA MX).

This year’s RSL attack – led by Captain Chicho Arango and his 17-goal, 12-assist campaign – is the highest-scoring unit in the Club’s 20-year history, with 63 goals through 33 games, far exceeding the 2013 production of 57 goals. With four home goals on Decision Day, RSL could establish a new home record for goals, surpassing the 38 scored in 2018.

RSL has already clinched qualification for the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for the 14th time in 17 years, with last Saturday’s 1-0 road win at San Jose guaranteeing a top-four finish in the Western Conference and home-field advantage in the First-Round, Best-of-Three series. RSL enters “Decision Day” tied for third place in the West with rival Seattle on 56 points, needing a win and a Sounders loss/draw to lock in the third overall seed. With a Vancouver win over second-place LAFC this weekend and another LAFC loss on Decision Day, RSL does have an outside shot at the second-overall West slot, behind front-running LA Galaxy.

Information for postseason tickets and more can be found at www.RSL.com/tickets.