Nine Atlanta United players called to national teams
Nine Atlanta United players were called to their national teams for matches or camps this week.
The players were wingers Miguel Almirón (Paraguay), Saba Lobjanidze (Georgia) and Luke Brennan (U.S. Under-20s); midfielders Alexey Miranchuk (Russia), Bartosz Slisz (Poland) and Cooper Sanchez (U.S. U17s); fullbacks Ronald Hernandez (Venezuela) and Dominik Chong Qui (U.S. U19s); and goalkeeper Jayden Hibbert (Canada).
Atlanta United, which defeated Nashville 1-0 last week, is off this week. It will host Columbus on Sept. 13.
Almirón and Paraguay will play World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador on Thursday and at Peru on Sept. 9. Almirón has made 68 appearances for Paraguay. Paraguay is in fifth place in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying. Paraguay needs only 1 point to qualify for next year’s World Cup.
Hernandez and Venezuela, for which he has made 33 appearances, will play World Cup qualifier matches at Argentina on Thursday and will host Colombia on Sept. 9. Venezuela is in seventh place in CONMEBOL. Six teams from the region can qualify, and a seventh will go into a playoff.
Lobjanidze and Georgia will play World Cup qualifiers against Turkey on Thursday and Bulgaria on Sunday. Lobjanidze has made 40 appearances for Georgia, which is playing its first match in Group E.
Slisz and Poland will play qualifiers at Holland on Thursday and against Finland on Sunday. He has made 17 appearances for Poland, which is in third place in Group G, 1 point behind leaders Finland. Sixteen teams from UEFA will advance to the World Cup.
Miranchuk and Russia will play friendlies against Jordan on Thursday and at Qatar on Sunday. Miranchuk has made 46 appearances for Russia.
Hibbert and Canada will play friendlies at Romania on Friday and at Wales on Sept. 9. This was Hibbert’s first call-up to Canada, which doesn’t have to qualify for next year’s World Cup because it is one of three hosts.
Chong Qui and the U.S. U19s will host a training camp in Fayetteville. Sanchez and the U.S. U17s will host a training camp in Holland, where it will play a friendly against the hosts Friday and Monday. The U17 World Cup is scheduled to be held in Qatar from Nov. 3-27. Brennan and the U.S. U20s will play friendlies against Morocco on Friday and Sunday in Spain. The U20 World Cup is scheduled to be played in Chile on Sept. 27-Oct. 19.
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