Xavier Arreaga named to Ecuador’s World Cup qualifying roster

Xavier Arreaga has been called up to the Ecuador national team for a pair of upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Ecuador will visit Argentina on Oct. 8 and then host Uruguay on Oct. 13.

Arreaga’s standing in Ecuador’s national team has been on the rise lately. He’s been called into Ecuador’s past six camps and now has six caps, five of which have come since joining the Sounders.

Due to MLS protocols, Arreaga will likely need to quarantine for at least 10 days before being allowed to train with the Seattle Sounders again. Arreaga will miss at least five Sounders games and won’t be eligible to play again until the Oct. 27 match against the Vancouver Whitecaps. So far, Raúl Ruidíaz is the only other Sounders player who is in the same situation, although GM Garth Lagerwey indicated he’s expecting Gustav Svensson to be called up for Sweden’s upcoming matches.

MLS had apparently sought permission from FIFA to decline call-ups due to the extended number of matches players will miss. FIFA did grant clubs the ability to block some call-ups, but only for friendlies or in instances where the government mandates a quarantine of at least five days. Since the U.S. government has only issued guidelines — not mandates — about quarantines, Lagerwey said he didn’t believe the Sounders had any ability to block the moves. Historically, the Sounders have mostly tried to accommodate players’ desires to play for their national teams even when they haven’t been forced to and never seemed particularly likely to do so in this case.