Justin Meram

Following the season, he received his first-ever international call-up, making three caps for Iraq at the 22nd Arabian Gulf Cup.

Justin Meram (جستن حكمت عزيز ميرام; born December 4, 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger.

Born in the United States, he plays for the Iraq national team.

Meram attended Eisenhower High School in Michigan, and played for local side Vardar, before going on to play two years of college soccer at Yavapai College in Arizona.

He also scored the game-winner in the 89th minute on September 19.

Meram made 19 appearances split between right midfield, left midfield and forward in his third season with the Black & Gold, recording one goal and one assist.

His appearances included eight starts and five substitute appearances at left midfield, one start and three substitute appearances at right midfield and two substitute appearances at forward.

He made his season debut against San Jose (March 16) and his first start of the year at right wing in the match at Toronto FC (May 18).

In his second straight start at right midfield at New York Red Bulls (May 26), he was awarded a penalty which led to a Federico Higuaín goal.

Meram made starts in the right midfield at Philadelphia Union (June 5) and against New York (August 10) but did not travel to the match at Real Salt Lake (August 24) suffering from back spasms.

He returned to action with a start at left midfield against Seattle (August 31) and in the next match against Houston Dynamo (September 4) scored his first goal and recorded his first assist—the game-winner—of the season in a start at left midfield in the 2–0 win.

In MLS Reserve League action, he made nine starts – five at forward and four in the midfield—scoring one goal and recording one assist.

He was an 89th-minute sub and scored the game-winning goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time at Seattle (March 29).

He made his first start of the season at left midfield against New York (April 26) and drew a penalty that led to a Columbus goal.

Meram came on as a late-match substitute at New England Revolution (July 26) and assisted on Ethan Finlay's match-winning goal.

He scored his third goal of the season in a second-half substitute appearance versus Toronto FC (August 9).

He scored the opening goal versus the LA Galaxy (August 16) and added an assist later in the contest.

Meram repeated the one-goal, one-assist effort for the second consecutive match in a start versus Houston (August 23).

He started in the club's final nine League matches of the regular season, recording his first career brace versus Chivas USA (September 7) and scoring again at Philadelphia (October 11).

Meram made his postseason debut and scored his first MLS Cup Playoffs goal in a start versus New England (November 1) -- he started the second leg at New England (November 9) and recorded his first career MLS Cup Playoffs assist.

Meram made two Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup appearances, including one start in tournament action—he made a substitute appearance in the 2–1 win over Indy Eleven in the Fourth Round (June 17) and started at forward in the Fifth Round at Chicago Fire Soccer Club (June 25).

Meram was a program standout at Yavapai, leading his team to back-to-back NJCAA National Championships, earning 2008 National Junior College Player of the Year honors, being named a NSCAA and NJCAA All-American, earning ACCAC Conference Player of the Year honors, and being named MVP at both the national and regional tournaments during the 2007 season, while setting a school record for points and finished second all-time in goals and assists.

He transferred to the University of Michigan as a junior in 2009, where he was named to the All-Big Ten second team both years, and to the NSCAA All-GreatLakes Region second team in his senior year in 2010.

He finished his college career with 24 goals and 14 assists in 41 games for the Wolverines.

During his college years in Arizona, Meram also played with the Arizona Sahuaros, both in the National Premier Soccer League and in local amateur USASA competitions.

Meram appeared in both quarterfinal matches against Real Salt Lake as a substitute in the 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League.

In his second season, Meram made 22 appearances and 11 starts to score four goals and record one assist in 960 minutes.

Meram recorded goals in three consecutive games during the month of May against FC Dallas, San Jose Earthquakes and Seattle Sounders FC.

On January 14, 2011, Meram was drafted in the first round (15th overall) in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft by Columbus Crew.

He made his professional debut on February 22, 2011, as a second-half substitute in the first leg of the Crew's CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final series against Real Salt Lake, and made his MLS debut on May 28 as a late substitute in a 3–3 tie with Chivas USA.

Meram made his MLS regular season debut on May 28 against Chivas USA.

He appeared in 12 other matches as a substitute and started four matches.

The rookie recorded his first professional assist on June 4 and another on June 18, 2011.

Meram started in seven matches in the MLS Reserve League season, scoring four goals and recording one assist.

Meram started and recorded an assist in the Crew's U.S. Open Cup match against Richmond Kickers.

In the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, he made two appearances – including one start at forward—and scored the game-winning goal in the 84th minute in the Third Round win against Dayton Dutch Lions (May 29) after subbing-on.

Meram made 32 appearances—including 19 starts—at midfield as part of a breakout campaign.

He scored eight goals and assisted on four others, career-bests in both categories.

Meram appeared in the season-opening win at D.C. United (March 8) and recorded his first assist of the season.

Meram made 31 appearances (28 starts) at left midfield in 2015, scoring six goals and notching five assists.