The Seattle Sounders will be quite short-handed when they play Real Salt Lake in their final regular-season home game on Saturday. Originally scheduled as a bye week due an international window, this game was moved from late August due to the Sounders playing in the Leagues Cup final.
The upshot is that as many as five Sounders will be unavailable for the match due to international duty, with at least two other starters missing due to other reasons. The Sounders did get some relief, though, when they were able to work out an agreement to keep Snyder Brunell, who had been called into the United States U19 team. Brunell started for Tacoma Defiance on Sunday, picking up an assist in a 5-1 win over Houston Dynamo 2.
Joining Obed Vargas (Mexico) and Reed Baker-Whiting (USA) – whose teams both advanced to the U20 World Cup Round of 16 – on international duty this week are Cristian Roldan (USA), Nouhou (Cameroon) and Georgi Minoungou (Burkina Faso). Albert Rusnák (suspended) and Yeimar Gomez Andrade (hamstring) are also going to be unavailable, while Kim Kee-hee's status is not yet known after he came out of Saturday's game with a calf strain.
All but Yeimar are expected to be back in time for the Decision Day match against New York City FC.
There is at least a possibility that Vargas could return in time to play against RSL, but it's unclear how big of a role he could potentially play. Mexico plays host Chile in the Round of 16 on Tuesday and Vargas has already logged 220 minutes during the tournament's first week. Even if Baker-Whiting's USA get eliminated by Italy in the Round of 16, his match isn't until Thursday and would make for a tight turnaround.
