Marco Pappa called up by Guatemala for Gold Cup

Marco Pappa is a mainstay on Guatemala's national team, so it comes as no surprise, but he indeed made the final roster for his home country for the upcoming Gold Cup. Brad Evans, Clint Dempsey and now Marco Pappa are confirmed as the three roster casualties for the Sounders, and, depending on how the squads fare, Sounder FC could be without the trio until the August 1 match against the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Guatemala is scheduled to face Trinidad, Mexico and Cuba in the first stage of the CONCACAF competition, and before that Pappa will face his Sounders teammates in a warmup match against the USMNT on July 3. Like the Americans, his last action with the Sounders will likely be this weekend against the Portland Timbers.

The Sounders have plenty of depth to step in at the outside mid position, but no one that has exactly proven themselves a solid attacking threat, with the exception of Lamar Neagle who will likely continue to be pressed into forward duty in the absence of Clint Dempsey. Marco Pappa's passing and abilities on the ball will be missed, but Andy Rose and Cristian Roldan have shown that they can be effective there, among others. Sigi Schmid, for better or for worse, will likely have several chances to see what might work over the next weeks.