RSL forward Plata, under a new young DP status, to miss 3-4 months with foot injury


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SANDY — Real Salt Lake waited 76 days from the Western Conference semifinal in Los Angeles until the start of preseason training camp.

In one full practice, the team saw a significant loss for part of the 2015 season.

RSL forward Joao Plata will miss three to four months after suffering a fifth metatarsal fracture in the club’s first full training Sunday morning in Sandy, the club announced Monday. The team departed Monday morning for the first leg of preseason training camp in Casa Grande, Arizona, but Plata stayed behind to undergo surgery by team physician Andrew Cooper at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center on Monday afternoon, according to a team release.

Plata injured his foot in a non-contact, change-of-direction play on the artificial surface at Soccer City on Sunday, a similar break to the one suffered by forward Alvaro Saborio during training with the Costa Rica national team ahead of last summer’s 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Chris Schuler, Chris Wingert and Devon Sandoval have also suffered a similar foot injury in recent years.

RSL's Joao Plata stops the ball along the sideline as Real Salt Lake and the New York Red Bulls play Wednesday, July 30, 2014, at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy. (Scott G Winterton/Deseret News)
RSL's Joao Plata stops the ball along the sideline as Real Salt Lake and the New York Red Bulls play Wednesday, July 30, 2014, at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy. (Scott G Winterton/Deseret News)

Plata led RSL with 13 goals and six assists in 23 games played in 2014, his second season with the club after coming over in a trade with Toronto FC. The 5-foot-2 Ecuadorian scored 17 goals in two seasons in an RSL kit, putting him on the radar of Ecuador’s national team coaches in recent months and potentially making the 22-year-old a target for significant international minutes with Los Amarillos.

In a cruel twist, RSL had recently purchased Plata’s rights in full and signed the player to a multi-year, Young Designated Player contract, the club officially announced Monday.

“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,” technical director Craig Waibel said in a statement. “Plata has earned this, to have the multiple parties involved in his player pass be eliminated and the security of knowing that this club is his home, now and for the foreseeable future.”

RSL had three designated players on last year’s roster in Saborio, forward Sebastian Jaime and midfielder Javier Morales. Designated players and young designated players fall in different categories, according to Major League Soccer’s roster and salary compliance guidelines. DPs over the age of 23 carried a charge of $387,500 toward a team’s salary cap in 2014, while young designated players age 20-23 count $200,000 against the cap. Financial terms of RSL’s deal with Plata were not announced, per league and club policy.

Real Salt Lake will train Monday through Friday in Arizona, wrapping up with a preseason scrimmage against the defending Eastern Conference champion New England Revolution on Saturday.

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