SANDY, Utah (Thursday, June 25, 2015) – Real Salt Lake will have five players donning their national team jerseys in next month’s CONCACAF Gold Cup after three more players were added to the U.S. National Team call-ups of GK Nick Rimando and MF Kyle Beckerman. DF Elias Vasquez was called up by Guatemala, FW Alvaro Saborio by Costa Rica and Jamaica called up DF Demar Phillips for the tournament, which kicks off July 7 and runs until the final on July 26.
Vasquez, 23, has 29 caps for Guatemala and made his debut in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He has been a regular starter and keyed a defense that advanced past Bermuda 1-0 on aggregate in 2018 World Cup qualifying earlier this month. In his first season with Real Salt Lake, the center back has started 10 matches.
Guatemala enters the tournament in Group C and will face Trinidad and Tobago (July 9), Mexico (July 12) and Cuba (July 15). Prior to the tournament, “La Furia Azul” will meet the U.S. National Team in a Gold Cup tune-up match on July 3 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Saborio, 33, has 35 career goals in 99 appearances for Costa Rica. This will mark his fourth CONCACAF Gold Cup after previously playing with Costa Rica in 2009, 2011 and 2013. He is Real Salt Lake’s all-time leading scorer with 63 goals in 127 career regular season matches, including three goals in 14 matches this season.
Costa Rica is in Group B and will face Jamaica (July 8), El Salvador (July 11) and Canada (July 14), but first will face Mexico in Orlando, Florida in a pre-tournament friendly on Saturday.
Phillips, 31, has 66 career caps with Jamaica and this will be his third time in the Gold Cup after playing in 2009 and 2011. In his first year with Real Salt Lake, he has 10 appearances, nine of them in a starting role.
Jamaica is in Group B and faces Costa Rica (July 8), Canada (July 11) and El Salvador (July 14).
