Gozo caps memorable MLS All-Star week as MLS edges Liga MX 4-3

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The record books will show a 4-3 victory for Major League Soccer over Liga MX.

For Real Salt Lake, the night’s biggest takeaway extended well beyond the final score.

Fan-voted MLS All-Star Zavier Gozo made his All-Star Game debut Wednesday night at Bank of America Stadium, capping a week in which Real Salt Lake was represented in every major MLS All-Star event.

Gozo entered Wednesday night’s game one night after advancing to the Crossbar Challenge final during the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge at Truist Field. After two lengthy weather delays, the 19-year-old finished runner-up to Club León’s Javier Ruiz and earned congratulations from teammates Son Heung-min and Thomas Müller, who Gozo later joked “didn’t believe in me at first” before he “had to put on a show.”

Academy standouts Easton Wilson and Kellen Poll suited up in the MLS NEXT All-Star Game alongside future Real Salt Lake Academy midfielder Daniel Carmona earlier in the week. The club also sent Ben McQueen and Mostafa Saedi to represent RSL in the MLS Unified All-Star Game.

Three years after representing Real Salt Lake in the MLS NEXT All-Star Game, Gozo returned to All-Star Week as a fan-voted first-team selection, completing a rapid rise from academy prospect to an MLS All-Star.

Despite earning a place in the MLS All-Star Fan XI through league-wide voting, Gozo spent more than an hour on the bench before finally entering in the 62nd minute, deployed on the left wing as MLS All-Star head coach Dean Smith rotated through his bench.

The 19-year-old repeatedly found space down the left flank, making several runs behind the Liga MX back line while pressing aggressively without the ball. But with a roster loaded with international stars, meaningful touches were limited.

“Yeah, for sure,” Gozo said when asked if he had hoped to be played into space more often. “But I think when you play with such good players, everyone can receive the ball and everyone wants to pass it to Thomas (Müller) and all those guys.

“So I understand it for sure, but of course I wanted to get the ball.”

By the time Gozo entered, MLS had already built a 4-2 lead.

MLS recovered from an early deficit after Luis Gabriel Rey headed Liga MX in front in the ninth minute. Son Heung-min answered with two goals in three minutes before Philip Zinckernagel extended the lead just before halftime. Salomón Rondón pulled one back for Liga MX early in the second half, but Evander restored the two-goal cushion before José Paradela’s stoppage-time strike set up a tense finish in MLS’s 4-3 victory.

While the match featured plenty of attacking talent, Gozo said the rhythm was noticeably different than a typical league match.

“I think it’s definitely slower pace, less defending and more just trying to attack,” he said. “There’s more counterattacks and carelessness with the ball. But yeah, I think it’s just a slower pace for sure.”

Although he spent much of the evening on the left side, the position wasn’t unfamiliar. When asked whether it felt like a callback to his MLS NEXT days, Gozo smiled.

“I love to play both sides,” Gozo said. “I played the left wing in the U-20 World Cup, so I feel like I’m comfortable there.”

Between reaching the Crossbar Challenge final and making his MLS All-Star Game debut, Gozo added two more milestones to what has already been a remarkable season. After cementing his place in Real Salt Lake’s first team at right wingback and earning enough fan support to be voted into the MLS All-Star Game, he now returns to a club chasing a postseason run.

Rather than dwelling on the accomplishment, his focus shifted immediately back to Utah.

“Winning games,” Gozo said when asked what he was looking forward to upon returning to Real Salt Lake. “I’m always focused on the present and what we’re doing.

“All my teammates and the family we have there is counting on me and everyone else to win games and make a run in the playoffs.”

Gozo flew home following Wednesday night’s match. He is expected back in training Thursday before Real Salt Lake travels to St. Louis on Friday ahead of Saturday night’s Western Conference matchup with St. Louis City SC.

Before leaving Bank of America Stadium, Gozo made one more lap around the MLS locker room. Still dripping from the postgame shower with a towel wrapped around his waist, the 19-year-old carried his All-Star jersey from teammate to teammate, trading signatures with some of the league’s biggest stars.

Asked what he hoped to bring home from his first MLS All-Star experience, Gozo smiled before offering a two-word answer:

“Some skills.”