Real Salt Lake’s forwards represent a diverse group of talents that give Freddy Juarez the opportunity to approach each match with a different look. Depending on his lineup, the tactics can change fairly significantly from one match to the next – or even within a given match.
A youthful group of wingers is complemented by an experienced veteran while the striker spot features three international standouts and an aspiring Homegrown standout.
Strikers
Milan Iloski – 20 years old, 5’10”, 155 pounds
Iloski enters his first professional season after three seasons at UCLA. The RSL Academy led the Pac-12 and ranked fourth in the country in scoring in 2019 with 17 goals in 16 matches. His breakout season included matches that saw him score five goals in a 5-2 win over San Diego State on October 6 and three goals in a 3-2 win over Maryland on September 6. He finished his three-year college career with 23 goals and six assists in 46 appearances, 36 as a starter. Prior to joining the Bruins, Iloski netted 16 goals and 15 assists in 36 matches for the Real Salt Lake Academy in the 2016-17 season.
Sam Johnson – 26 years old, 5’11”, 163 pounds
Johnson scored nine goals in 2019 to finish second on RSL in scoring, starting in 15 of his 25 appearances. Since first turning pro in 2011, he has played in Sweden, China and Norway, scoring double-digit goals in 2014, 2015, 2016 (split between Sweden and China) and 2018 when he netted 11 goals in 24 matches for Eliteserien in Norway. In addition, he has three goals in 16 caps for the Nigerian National Team, including one in a 3-1 win over Sierra Leone in 2022 World Cup Qualifying last year.
Douglas Martinez – 22 years old, 6’0”, 140 pounds
After signing with RSL last August, Martinez made his MLS debut on Sept. 11 in a 1-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes. Originally signed by the Monarchs at the start of the 2019 season, he had 16 goals and seven assists in 22 matches and added one goal and one assist in helping the Monarchs to the USL Championship title. Prior to his arrival in Utah, he played for Vida in his native Honduras and with New York Red Bulls II on loan in 2017. Internationally, he featured for the Honduras U-20s before arriving with the Monarchs and has since been included with the Honduras U-23s leading up to 2020 Olympic Qualifying and scored in his full international debut on October 10, 2019 against Trinidad & Tobago.
Giuseppe Rossi – 33 years old, 5'8", 159 pounds
Rossi has played for Manchester United and Newcastle United in England, Parma, Fiorentina and Genoa in Italy and Villarreal, Levante and Celta Vigo in Spain, scoring 128 goals in 336 matches across all competitions for clubs in the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga. After scoring in his professional debut for Manchester United at 17 years old, he went on to have his breakthrough season on loan with Parma in the 2006-07 season, notching nine goals and four assists in 19 Serie A matches. His top season came with Villarreal in 2010-11, when he had 18 goals and seven assists in 35 matches in league play, 11 goals and three assists in 14 appearances in Europa League and three goals and one assist in five Copa Del Rey matches. During that season, Villarreal finished fourth in La Liga with Rossi finishing as the fifth-leading scorer in the league, trailing only Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo. Internationally, Rossi had seven goals in 30 caps for Italy between his debut in 2008 and his last appearance in 2014. During the 2008 Olympics, he led Italy to the Quarterfinal Round, scoring four goals in four matches to win the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer.
Wingers
Corey Baird – 24 years old, 5’10”, 160 pounds
In two years, Baird has made his mark both as a striker and a winger. In 2018, he earned AT&T MLS Rookie of the Year honors after posting eight goals and five assists in 31 appearances. He followed that up with five goals and four assists in 31 appearances in 2019. He also added an assist in the MLS Cup Playoffs and has four playoff appearances under his belt. All the while, he has four caps for the U.S. National Team, adding an assist for the Stars and Stripes. Before arriving at RSL, the RSL Academy product won three consecutive NCAA Championships with the Stanford Cardinal.
Maikel Chang – 28 years old, 5’10”, 174 pounds
A seven-year veteran of the USL Championship, Chang gets his first shot at the MLS level with Real Salt Lake. Originally signed by the Charleston Battery in 2013 before a move to the Monarchs in 2018, he has amassed 31 goals and 34 assists in 174 regular season appearances and added two goals and three assists in 10 USL playoff matches. Last season with the Monarchs, he had his top-scoring season with 13 goals and six assists and won the USL Championship title.
Chris Garcia – 17 years old, 5’7”, 142 pounds
Garcia joined the RSL Academy ahead of the 2018-2019 season and has since recorded 18 goals in 38 games while making 30 starts. He has seven goals in six matches during the current 2019-20 U.S. Soccer Development Academy season. Playing primarily with the RSL U-17s, Garcia helped lift his side to an undefeated run in the USSDA Winter Showcase, with a goal across three appearances.
Justin Meram – 31 years old, 6’1”, 165 pounds
Meram joins Real Salt Lake after nine MLS seasons, mostly with Columbus Crew SC. The University of Michigan product has 43 goals and 37 assists in 243 career MLS appearances, including a standout season with 13 goals and seven assists in 2017. That capped a four-year stretch that saw Meram notch 32 goals and 29 assists in 130 matches for Columbus. In addition, he has three goals and two assists in 16 matches in the MLS Cup Playoffs and last year won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and Campeones Cup with Atlanta United. In 2015, he reached the MLS Cup final with Columbus. On the international level, he has four goals in 33 caps for Iraq.
Jeizon Ramírez – 18 years old, 5’7”, 132 pounds
Ramírez made his professional debut at 16 years old in the playoffs for Tachira in the Venezuelan top flight. He went on to score five goals with seven assists in 2,343 minutes over 46 regular season matches in two seasons, adding an assist in the playoffs in 2019. In addition, he helped Tachira qualify for the Copa Libertadores.
Tate Schmitt – 22 years old, 5’11”, 161 pounds
The Real Salt Lake Academy product appeared in six matches for RSL during his rookie season, making his lone start in a road loss to LAFC. He spent most of the season on loan with the Monarchs, tallying two goals and one assist in 15 appearances. During the USL Championship Playoffs, he emerged with one goal and three assists in help the Monarchs win the title.
Julian Vazquez – 18 years old, 5’11”, 145 pounds
The Nibley, Utah, native had one goal and two assists in 11 matches for the USL Championship title-winning Real Monarchs in his first professional season. The RSL Academy product has also been in camp with Mexico’s U-20 and U-18 National Teams.
Real Salt Lake General Manager Elliot Fall on the forwards:
“Obviously we lost a fantastic player in Jefferson Savarino but we we've been able to reinvest in two more young players Jeizon Ramirez, an international from Venezuela, and then Chris Garcia out of our academy who's come in and done a fantastic job in preseason and is probably closer to contributing than anybody thought before preseason started. We’ve also brought in some really good quality MLS players like Justin Meram - a guy who's produced at a very high level in this league over the years. And that's not to mention Corey Baird who we were able to re-sign to a new contract and he’s had two excellent years for the club and, frankly, we think will only continue to get better. Up front, we have options. We've got Sam Johnson who came in last year and did a good job and scored nine goals in 15 games and was productive when he was on the field. And then, Douglas Martinez who led the Monarchs to a championship and was the leading scorer for that team and is another young international-quality player who we think the future is very bright for him and he may get opportunities early in the year and hopefully he can produce as well. And then a guy like Giuseppe Rossi who you know his resume speaks for itself but he can be another option that we can use in matches to kind of tip the scales in our favor and have another difference maker in pivotal moments. We feel like we've got a good number of options up top.”
