Micheal Azira turns down Uganda call-up for Nigeria friendly

Micheal Azira will not be joining Uganda for an upcoming friendly against Nigeria, after all. An earlier Goal.com report listed Azira as one of 25 players called up to the Uganda National Team for the March 25 match. That would have put Azira out of the lineup against FC Dallas.

Azira, however, is not listed on the updated 18-man roster. He also is training with the Sounders today.

Micheal Azira was at practice at Starfire this morning. Schmid said the player turned down a call-up from the Uganda national team

— Matt Pentz (@mattpentz) March 23, 2015

This is great news for the Sounders, who will be without Clint Dempsey and Marco Pappa, as both were called up by their national teams for international friendlies. The U.S. faces Denmark on March 25 in Aarhus and then meets Switzerland on March 31 in Zurich. Guatemala takes on Canada in Florida on March 27, and then faces El Salvador on March 31 at StubHub Center.

The status of Tyrone Mears and Osvaldo Alonso, both recovering from injuries, also remains a question. Schmid noted that Chad Marshall would likely be able to play, though.

While it will still be a challenge to put together a lineup for the March 28 road match against FC Dallas, Azira's status is welcome news.