Raúl Ruidíaz called into Peru national team

Raúl Ruidíaz became the sixth Seattle Sounders player to be called into international duty this upcoming week. Perú plays friendlies against Germany (March 25) and Morocco (March 28).

There is a possibility that the Sounders could negotiate for Ruidíaz to remain with them, especially in light of his recent injury history. Ruidíaz is still working his way back from a hamstring injury that forced him to miss the season-opener and limited him to coming off the bench in each of the past two games. Ruidíaz made his first start of the season on Saturday but was still limited to 60 minutes and is routinely limited during training sessions.

If Ruidíaz does join Peru, that will likely leave the particularly short-handed for next Saturday’s game at Sporting KC. Xavier Arreaga (Ecuador), Reed Baker-Whiting (USA U19s), Alex Roldan (El Salvador), Nouhou (Cameroon) and Obed Vargas (USA U20s) have also been called in. In addition to the internationals, Héber (hamstring) is also likely out while Jackson Ragen (ribs) left the LAFC match with an injury and has an unknown prognosis.

The Sounders also play six matches during the Concacaf Gold Cup, during which they’ll likely be missing 2-3 players.

Traditionally, the Sounders have managed to schedule around international breaks but it was especially tough this year as MLS is taking off five weeks for Leagues Cup and has extended the playoffs by several weeks.

The only Sporting KC player to have been called into international duty appears to be is Marinos Tzionis (Cyprus), a mostly reserve forward.