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Real Salt Lake is a game away from playing for the MLS Cup and one of the men most responsible for Real's playoff run, Yura Movsisyan has become an instant favorite for many fans.
Movsisyan, 21, is a striker for Real Salt Lake and right now is on top of the world. His last minute goal against Colorado put Real into the playoffs for the first time ever. Now his team is just one win away from a chance at a championship.
"We're extremely happy, but not satisfied," Movsisyan professes. "We want to take this all the way."
Movsisyan has been a huge part of Real's success this season, but the fact he's here, in this country, is a remarkable story in and of itself.
"Being an Armenian you don't really live a good life there," he says.
There is Azerbyzhan, where Yura's family was surrounded by constant violence in the late 80's with what was then the Soviet Republics. It soon became war with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Finding a comparison for his hometown, Movsisyan says, "If you just picture people in Afghanistan and Iraq, now people live in fear."
He says his parents risked their lives bringing the family to the United States for a better life nine years ago when they settled in California. The Real star is waiting to become a US citizen, but knows right now he's living the American dream.
"This country has given me a place to live, food to eat, and I don't know how to repay them," Movsisyan says. "It's amazing."
Real hosts the New York Red Bulls this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Western Conference Championship. If it wins, it will play the winner of the Eastern Conference Final between the Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew on Sunday, Nov. 23.
E-mail: kaiken@ksl.com
