What’s in a number?
For Real Salt Lake midfielder Luis Gil, the number he wore on the back of his shirt never really meant much. But when Head Coach Jeff Cassar suggested to him in the off-season that he switch to the No. 10 jersey, he took it as both a sign of respect and as a challenge.
“It’s an honor. It’s just going to put more responsibility on me,” Gil said after returning to RSL fresh off a month with the U.S. National Team at January camp. “It’s going to be my sixth year with the team, so it’s about time I took some more responsibility on the team.”
Cassar saw that Gil may be ready to take on that responsibility, but he’s not the only one.
Goalkeeper Nick Rimando – a 15-year MLS veteran – has seen him grow exponentially in the last few years, blossoming from a child prodigy hopeful of making it through practice sessions to an integral part of RSL’s makeup with an eye on the U.S. National Team and the Olympics.
“He’s grown every time I see him in camp with Real Salt Lake and the U.S. National Team,” Rimando said. “You can see him mature and his game has definitely gone to the next level.”
Flashback to the 2010 season. Gil was a rising young talent, but at just 16 years old was a somewhat unknown commodity. Yet RSL took a chance on him by sending a first round pick in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft and an international roster slot to Sporting Kansas City (then called the Kansas City Wizards) to trade for the U.S. Youth international.
He didn’t play a single league match that first year, learning the ins-and-outs of being a professional under the watch of leaders on a team that had won MLS Cup a year earlier. Over the next three seasons, he saw increases in games, starts and minutes played and was converting that experience into a productive season of five goals and three assists in 2013.
Those numbers took a dip in 2014 to two goals and two assists in 2014 as a deep RSL midfield increased the competition for playing time.
Now entering his sixth season at just 21 years old, Gil is poised to make it his best yet for RSL and is using his experience with the U.S. National Team from January camp to help accelerate that process.
“I got to learn a lot from a lot of different guys. A lot of them could be on the U-23 side, so it was good to get involved with them and kind of prepare for the Olympics as well, but still have older guys as examples that can lead the way for us,” he said. “I may be young, but I’m kind of a veteran in a way. I can still show these guys how we do things with Real Salt Lake and be a leader for them.”
Gil and RSL will face the New England Revolution on Wednesday in the first match of the Desert Diamond Cup preseason tournament in Tucson. Stream the match live starting at 6 p.m. MT on RealSaltLake.com.
