SANDY, Utah (Sunday, March 20, 2016) – Real Salt Lake MF Kyle Beckerman and DF Demar Phillips have been called up by their respective national teams for FIFA World Cup qualifying matches during the upcoming international break in the Major League Soccer schedule. Beckerman will join the U.S. National Team for qualifiers against Guatemala in Guatemala City on March 25 and Columbus, Ohio, on March 29. Phillips and the Jamaican National Team will face Costa Rica on March 25 in Jamaica and March 29 in Costa Rica.
Beckerman, 33, appeared in nine matches with the U.S. in 2015, giving him 51 career caps. He has appeared in all five matches across all competitions for RSL this year, including Saturday’s match against the Portland Timbers. The U.S. is 1-0-1 and tied for first in Group C of the Fourth Round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying, previously winning 6-1 over St. Vincent and the Grenadines November 13 in St. Louis and drawing 0-0 on November 17 against Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain. The top two teams in each four-team group advance to the Hexagonal Round starting in November. The U.S. has qualified for the last seven consecutive FIFA World Cups.
Phillips, 32, has 62 caps for Jamaica and has started in two of RSL’s five matches this year, his second season in MLS. Jamaica is 1-1-0 in Group B, tied for second with Panama and behind Costa Rica after two matches. In those matches, Jamaica lost 2-0 to Panama in Kingston and winning 1-0 over Haiti in Port-au-Prince. Jamaica qualified for the World Cup once before in 1998.
Both Beckerman and Phillips will join their countries this week and are expected to return to Real Salt Lake ahead of the next league match on April 2 at Children’s Mercy Stadium against Sporting Kansas City, although Beckerman will be serving a one-match suspension for his red card on Saturday against Portland.
