Five LAFC players received call-ups from their national teams earlier this month and took last week off from Major League Soccer play in order to represent their home countries.
It was a different week of play for Mark-Anthony Kaye, who has become a regular for the Canadian national team. A midfielder for LAFC, Kaye was played as a left back for his national team in a friendly against French Guiana last week. Although the change put Kaye outside of his comfort zone, his versatility shone through as he played the full game at defense and contributed an assisted for the team’s final goal of the 4-1 win. It was his first assist at the senior national team level.
Defender Mohamed El-Munir also spent a full 90 on the backline last week, suiting up for Libya in the team’s final qualifier for the Africa Cup of Nations. The game ended in disappointment for El-Munir’s squad, which fell 2-1 when it would have qualified with either a win or a draw.
Midfielder Peter-Lee Vassell saw a similarly disappointing result with the Jamaican national team in its Nations League Qualifying game on Saturday. Vassell started for the team and played all but the last ten minutes, notching a shot on the game, but Jamaica fell 2-0, with an own goal in the 89th minute sealing the loss.
Forward Christian Ramirez was the only player to receive a call-up from the U.S. senior national team, but he remained on the bench for the team’s win over Ecuador last Thursday and it’s draw against Chile on Tuesday. For Ramirez, even the call-up was special after spending years of his career battling for a play on the men’s senior national team. With the Gold Cup nearing Ramirez will continue to vie for a spot on the roster ahead of the major international tournament.
Always a privilege to put on these colors 🇺🇸 🙏🏽❤️ @USMNT grateful to have been apart of this camp! Time to refocus and keep @LAFC rolling! 👊🏽💛🖤 pic.twitter.com/DbOHAGOHz0
— Christian Ramirez (@Chris_Ramirez17) March 27, 2019
Although it wasn’t a senior call-up, 21-year-old forward Josh Pérez received the call from the U.S. U-23 team and saw some second half action in a 2-0 loss against Egypt. He was not called off the bench in the team’s 0-0 tie against Netherland on Sunday.
The whole team will be reunited for Saturday’s road game against San Jose, a team that finished at the bottom of the Western Conference last season and has already started the year with three losses.