Five Sporting Kansas City players are expected to join their respective national teams for international matches, the club announced on Thursday. Peterson Joseph, Craig Rocastle, Teal Bunbury, Shavar Thomas and Roger Espinoza have been invited to represent their countries during the upcoming FIFA international match dates, scheduled from October 7th through the 11th.
All five players will be available for Sporting Kansas City’s final home match of the regular season on Saturday, October 15th when the club hosts the New York Red Bulls at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. Tickets are available at the LIVESTRONG Sporting Park Box Officesor online at Ticketmaster.com.
Joseph will join the Haitian national side for their set of 2014 World Cup qualification matches. Haiti will face the US Virgin Islands on October 7thin Frederiksted, St. Croix, followed by a match with Curaçao in Port-au-Prince on October 11th. Haiti currently sit in second place in group F of the second round of qualifying in CONCACAF behind Antigua and Barbuda. The winner of the group will advance to the confederation’s third round of qualifying. Joseph currently has six senior level caps for Haiti since making his debut in their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.
Rocastle, who has earned a total of seven caps for Grenada since first being selected in 2010, will make his return to the Grenada national team setup after captaining his country in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The Spice Boys, also currently competing in the second round of CONCACAF qualification for the 2014 World Cup, will travel to Belmopan to take on Belize at FFB Field on October 7th at 3:30 p.m. CT before returning home to host St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the Grenada National Stadium in St. George’s, Grenada.
Bunbury will join the United States Men’s National Team for the second time under new Manager Jurgen Klinsmann, who announced his selections on Thursday for friendlies against Honduras and Ecuador. Bunbury, one of five forwards on the 22-man roster, has two previous appearances with the United States, debuting in a friendly at South Africa in November 2010 and then again coming on a second-half substitute against Chile in January, converting a penalty kick in the 75th minute of a 1-1 draw.
The United States, ranked 31st by FIFA, will first face Honduras at 5:00 p.m. CT on October 8th at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida before taking on Ecuador at 6:00 p.m. CT on October 11th at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. The match against Honduras will be broadcast on FOX Soccer and Univision, while fans can watch the Ecuador friendly on ESPN2.
Thomas will also be involved in international action as Jamaica, No. 45 according to FIFA, plays at Honduras on October 11th in La Ceiba. The veteran central defender has made 43 senior team appearances for the Reggae Boyz, most recently appearing in losses against Ecuador and Colombia earlier this month.
Potentially facing Bunbury and Thomas will be midfielder Roger Espinoza, who was selected to participate in their latest set of friendlies against both the United States and Jamaica. Espinoza has earned a total of 21 caps for Honduras since his national team debut in 2009 and represented Los Catrachos in their run to the semifinals at this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.