Darlington Nagbe and David Guzman called into International Duty

The International break is upon us, which means more World Cup Qualifiers are on the way. The great thing about this break is that MLS will be taking the two weeks off so players can go play for their country and teams won’t miss any players; plus teams can try to get healthy for the stretch run.

Both Darlington Nagbe and David Guzman have been called in by their respective squads, and on Friday, September 1st, it’ll be Timber vs. Timber as the United States takes on Costa Rica at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.

Darlington Nagbe

Since making his debut in 2015, Nagbe has 20 caps to his name. Most recently, he helped the United States to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Internationally, Nagbe has one goal in 20 appearances. Nagbe will most likely be playing a more centralized role in Bruce Arena’s offensive set up.

Here’s the full roster for the United States:

Goalkeepers (3): Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids), Brad Guzan (Atlanta United), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

Defenders (9): DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas), Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest), Tim Ream (Fulham), Jorge Villafaña (Santos Laguna), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

Midfielders (9): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Paul Arriola (D.C. United), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Dax McCarty (Chicago Fire), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders)

Forwards (5): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Bobby Wood (Hamburger SV)

(h/t SSFC)

David Guzman

Guzman will be looking to get his 27th cap as a member of Los Ticos. In his 26 appearances for his national team, he has yet to register a goal. They will be taking on the United States and Mexico as the road to Russia 2018 moves on.

Here’s the full Los Ticos roster:

Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas (Real Madrid), Patrick Pemberton (Alajuelense), Leonel Moreira (Herediano).

Defenders: Giancarlo Gonzalez (Bologna/ITA), Johnny Acosta (Herediano), Kendall Waston (Vancouver Whitecaps), Francisco Calvo (Minnesota United), Michael Umana (Pars Jonoubi/IRN), Kenner Gutierrez (Alajuelense), Cristian Gamboa (Celtic/SCO), Bryan Oviedo (Sunderland/ENG), Jose Andres Salvatierra (Alajuelense).

Midfielders: David Guzman (Portland Timbers), Randall Azofeifa (Herediano), Yeltsin Tejeda (Lausanne/SUI), Celso Borges (Deportivo Coruna/ESP), Bryan Ruiz (Sporting/POR), Rodney Wallace (New York City FC), Cristian Bolanos (Vancouver Whitecaps), Johan Venegas (Minnesota United).

Forwards: David Ramirez (Saprissa), Marco Urena (San Jose Earthquakes), Daniel Colindres (Saprissa), Jose Guillermo Ortiz (Herediano).

Mattocks & Powell

Normally they would be called up to the Jamaican national team, but this time around Reggae Boyz coach Theodore Whitmore is looking to expose a different set of players to the International stage. Thus, they have been left off the Jamaica roster. While Powell wasn’t mentioned by Whitemore, Mattocks was.

“The squad for Canada would be a balanced one in terms of local and players that play in the [United States]. Like a Mattocks, we won't take him because we have other players we want to see. We want to look at others so we have depth going forward.

“The regular names, you might not see them. The Gold Cup and the friendly [games] we play now are important, but what we want to do is get depth and camaraderie and build a squad for 2022,” said the former Reggae Boyz star.

- Theodore Whitmore; Source

As you see in the quote, the Reggae Boyz are looking now towards the 2022 World Cup. I guess it’s never too early to start building right?

While they’re not called into camp, they’ll have a break like the rest of the Timbers for the next two weeks. Hopefully, this will give the club some much-needed rest and help heal some of the walking wounded as they’re about to hit the home stretch of the 2017 MLS season.

ETA: Apparently Alvas Powell has been called up by the Jamaican National Team.