SEATTLE, WASH. – Sounders FC announced today that Xavier Arreaga (Ecuador), Raúl Ruidíaz (Peru) and Gustav Svensson (Sweden) have been called-up for international duty. This is the second time in two months that these three players have gotten the nod for their respective national teams. The call-ups coincide with Group Stage matchups in the Qualifying Round for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Nations League matches.
Arreaga, who started both FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches in October against Argentina and Uruguay, finds himself back on La Tricolor’s squad, looking to continue his streak of starts. He was first called-up for a friendly in 2018 and has a total of eight caps to date. The Ecuadorian squad faces off against Bolivia and Colombia on November 11 and November 17, respectively.
Ruidíaz, who finished the regular season as Sounders FC’s leading goal-scorer, gets the nod for two more 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches for Peru. Peru faces Chile on Friday, November 13 before squaring off against Argentina on November 17. Ruidíaz has 44 career caps for La Blanquirroja dating back to 2011, getting 18 starts and netting four goals.
Svensson travels to play with Sweden, where he appeared in a friendly against Russia on October 8, his 29th career international appearance. Sweden faces off in a friendly against Denmark tomorrow, November 11 before playing Croatia on November 14 and France on November 17 in two UEFA Nations League matchups.
After a 4-1 win over San Jose to end the 2020 MLS regular season, Sounders FC (11-5-6, 39 points) faces LAFC (9-8-5, 32 points) in the first round of the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs on Tuesday, November 24 (7:30 p.m. PT / ESPN, ESPN Deportes, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM).
