This week see’s most of the world stop their club leagues and give their star players time to focus on their national team duty. Major League Soccer never really has an off week though as there will be five matches played between October 3rd and October 11th. The Revolution do not play during that time which gives their players the opportunity to help their national teams without interfering with the important final games of the season. Four Revolution players, Juan Agudelo, Antonio Delamea, Je-Vaughn Watson, and Zachary Herivaux were called up for their respective national teams.
Juan Agudelo will have been once again called up to the United States Men’s National Team. He joins the team during the critical final two games of their CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers. The US are fourth place in a group that sees the top 3 teams qualify for next years World Cup in Russia. During this past summer, Agudelo helped the USMNT win the CONCACAF Gold Cup. “Last time with the national team I was able to get a trophy,” Agudelo said. “This time I’m hoping to help the team qualify for the world cup.” A series of key injuries had to lead to Agudelo’s call-up. “I’m ready. There have been some injuries at my position. So whenever the country calls upon me I’m ready to be there, like a soldier.” In his senior international career, Agudelo has 26 appearances and 3 goals. The US plays Panama on Friday, October 6th and Trinidad & Tobago Tuesday, October 10th.
Antonio Delamea was called up to his native Slovenia for two very important World Cup Qualifiers. Slovenia is in a tight race advance past the group stages of the UEFA Qualifiers. They sit 1 point behind rival Slovakia for a possible second-round appearance in qualifying. Delamea has only had 2 caps with the national team in his international career, but he only cares about what’s best for the team. “I’m more like a team player” Delamea said. “I’m only focused on getting good results. I’m not thinking about myself.” If Slovenia qualifies for the World Cup it will only be their third after 2002 and 2010. Slovenia plays England on Thursday, October 5th and Scotland Sunday, October 8th.
Je-Vaughn Watson will join the Reggae Boyz of Jamaica for a friendly. The 33-year-old Watson has been a longtime veteran of the Jamaican National Team. He has had 71 caps and lead Jamaica to two consecutive second-place finishes in the CONCACAF Gold Cup including a trip to this years final where he scored the tying goal against the United States. When asked what he hopes to get out of the trip he said: “Continue to do good, try to score some goals, try to represent both myself and the club.” Jamaica will travel to play Saudi Arabia on Saturday, October 7th.
For 21-year-old homegrown player Zachary Herivaux this will be a special international trip. Along with being only his second international cap, Herivaux will be returning to Japan, the country of his birth, with the Haitian National Team. “Playing with Haiti is always an honor,” Herivaux said “But being able to play in my homeland, against Japan who I always grew up watching, and playing against my idols. It will be a lot of fun.” Herivaux has only played two open cup games with the Revolution this year so getting the playing time will be very valuable. “I know there is going to be a lot of fans there with the national team. It’s going to give me a lot of experience and it’s going to bring back a lot more confidence in me.” Haiti plays Japan on Tuesday, October 10th.
