Justin Meram will be available for Sounders game

With the Seattle Sounders missing many key members for their mid-week match against Columbus Crew SC, there were hopes that Justin Meram could also be called in for Iraq’s national team for a trio of games coming up. The first of which is a friendly in Basra against Jordan on Thursday June 1.

Those hopes have been dashed.

Meram has been one of the more consistent players for the Crew this season. He is tied for the team lead in goals (7) and assists (4). He is capable of playing both LAM and OM and has the knowledge and smarts on what best suits his team at the moment.

He has started all 14 games this season for Columbus and has played at least 63 minutes or more in every game but their last, a 5-0 defeat to Toronto FC, when he played just 40 minutes.

He’s a bit of a streaky scorer, but when he is on watch out. It took him three games to get his first goal of the season and followed that up with four goals over the next four games. He then went four games before scoring all three goals in their 3-2 win over the Montreal Impact two weeks ago. Let’s hope he goes at least another game before scoring again.

The Basra match for Iraq is their first home game in four years. FIFA recently lifted the ban on hosting international matches, but just for friendlies.