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In case anyone thought that contracting Covid-19 would buy Raúl Ruidíaz a reprieve from national team duty, he’s been named to Peru’s roster for a pair of World Cup qualifiers in November.
Anunciamos la lista de convocados para los encuentros ante @LaRoja y @Argentina por las fechas 03 y 04 de las Clasificatorias a la Copa del Mundo Qatar 2022. #UnidosSomosMásFuertes#ArribaPerú pic.twitter.com/drD08uM2IR
— Selección Peruana (@SeleccionPeru) October 30, 2020
While probably not the ideal way to prepare for playoff matches, this call-up shouldn’t force Ruidíaz to miss any additional Sounders matches. Peru’s games will be played on Nov. 13 (at Chile) and Nov. 17 (vs. Argentina) and the Sounders aren’t expected to play their first playoff game until the weekend of Nov. 28-29. Even if Ruidíaz needs to do a nine-day quarantine — which might not be necessary as he should still have Covid-19 antibodies — he’d still be back in training a day or two before the Sounders play.
A good deal of the Sounders’ hopes of repeating as MLS Cup likely rests on Ruidíaz’s availability. The Sounders are 8-3-3 and average 2.2 goals a game with Ruidíaz in the lineup as opposed to 2-1-2 and 1.4.