SANDY, Utah (Monday, January 26, 2015) – Real Salt Lake has announced that FW Joao Plata will be out 3-4 months after fracturing the fifth metatarsal in his left foot. RSL Team Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Andrew Cooper is scheduled to perform the surgery on Monday afternoon at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center.
In a non-contact change-of-direction on artificial turf, the Ecuadorian international fractured the fifth metatarsal in his left foot in training Sunday, the club's only Utah-based session in advance of the team’s first preseason trip to Casa Grande, Ariz., on Monday. Cooper has also handled similar surgeries for Alvaro Saborio, Chris Schuler, Chris Wingert and Devon Sandoval in recent years.
Additionally, Real Salt Lake officially announced that the club has purchased the contract of Plata and signed him to a multi-year contract. Due to fees associated with Plata’s acquisition, he becomes a Young Designated Player under Major League Soccer’s roster and salary compliance guidelines. In his two seasons with RSL he is tied for the second-highest total on the club with 17 goals (tied with Javier Morales), as the duo trails only Costa Rican international Alvaro Saborio (20). His total of 14 assists is second only to Morales (20).
"Kudos to club ownership for making the commitment to a young player in Joao Plata who has proven himself as an exciting, dynamic offensive threat for RSL," said Real Salt Lake Technical Director Craig Waibel. "Plata has earned this, to have the multiple parties involved in his player pass be eliminated and the security of knowing that this club, Real Salt Lake, is his home, now and for the foreseeable future."
Plata was Real Salt Lake’s leading scorer in 2014, scoring a career-high 13 goals to rank 10th on the league’s scoring charts. He started the season with a goal or an assist in each of his first seven starts, totaling six goals and three assists in that stretch as RSL raced to an unbeaten 6-0-6 start to the year. The breakout season saw Plata called back in to the Ecuadorian National Team, where he also scored two goals in an October friendly against El Salvador.
He came to RSL in a trade with Toronto FC on January 30, 2013, with Toronto FC receiving a second round pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft in the swap. Since arriving, he has 17 goals and 14 assists in 55 regular season matches for the Claret-and-Cobalt.
Plata started his professional career at LDU Quito in his native Ecuador. There he scored on goal in seven matches to help Quito win the Ecuadorian Serie A championship for the 10th time in club history. At the conclusion of the season, he was loaned to Major League Soccer and selected by Toronto FC with the 49th overall pick in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft. In his first season he finished with three goals and five assists in 26 matches, also adding one goal and three assists in four matches in the Canadian Championship and four goals and one assist in five CONCACAF Champions League matches. He continued that Champions League success in 2012, scoring two goals in four matches to help Toronto reach the tournament semifinal. After 10 league matches, though, he went back to Ecuador on loan to LDU Quito.
After that loan expired, he was traded to Real Salt Lake and he has developed into one of the top young forwards in the league. Of the top ten scorers in the league in 2014, only Chivas USA forward Erick Torres (now with the Houston Dynamo) is younger than the 22-year-old Plata. In addition, only three players in the top 10 – Robbie Keane, Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey – had more assists than the six registered by Plata.
Real Salt Lake is in its first week of preseason training camp. The team will train at the home of the club’s Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy team in Casa Grande, Ariz., from Monday-Saturday before returning to Utah. The trip will include a scrimmage against the New England Revolution on Saturday. For daily updates from camp, stay tuned to www.RealSaltLake.com.
