After each being called in on preliminary rosters ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Román Torres (Panama), Nicolás Lodeiro (Uruguay) and Gustav Svensson (Sweden) have all departed Seattle. Final 23-man rosters are due to FIFA by June 4.
Torres and Lodeiro have been battling a hamstring strain and fractured toe, respectively, and have not featured in the last few matches. Torres was called in to Panama’s 35-man roster on Monday and has been in Colombia rehabbing with his personal doctor. Head Coach Brian Schmetzer recently released Lodeiro, so he would have an opportunity to rehab and potentially make his third World Cup. Lodeiro was one of 26 players called in to La Celeste on Tuesday.
“He probably wasn’t going to feature in the [Real Salt Lake] game either,” said Schmetzer of his decision to release Lodeiro early. “I let him go. It’s the World Cup. It’s a big deal. Nico has put a lot of effort into this club, and so I made the decision to let him go and see if he can make that squad and get healthy.
“Nico has given everything to this club,” Schmetzer continued. “Nico has always been a good solider to this club. He’s going to make decisions on what’s best for his career, and we support him in that.”
In light of Torres and Lodeiro’s situations, Schmetzer also decided to release Svensson, who was named to Sweden’s 23-man roster on Tuesday. Svensson was a key contributor for the Blågult during World Cup Qualifying and has been a mainstay on the national team over the past year.
“I felt it was only fair — Gustav has been a very good foot solider, played three games in a week, hard — I made the decision to let him go because the World Cup is a big deal,” Schmetzer said. “I want Gustav to be a starter in some World Cup games for Sweden. I think he deserves that. I think he’s earned that right. So that is a decision that the club made.”
