Three Sporting Kansas City players will join their respective national teams for matches during the upcoming designated FIFA international dates between March 25th – 29th. Striker Kei Kamara, defender Shavar Thomas and midfielder Stephane Auvray will all join their National Teams following Saturday’s season opener at Chivas USA and will miss Sporting Kansas City’s match at the Chicago Fire on Saturday, March 26th.
Kamara will be in the Sierra Leone squad for a critical African Cup of Nations qualifier on Sunday, March 27th. Sierra Leone, who drew each of their first two Group G qualifiers against Egypt and South Africa last year, will resume the group stage on the road against Niger under new head coach Lars Olof Mattsson.
Kamara enters his eighth MLS season, after leading Kansas City with a career-high 10 goals in MLS play last season and adding the game-winning goal against Manchester United during the summer friendly. He has six appearances in his career for the Sierra Leone National Team.
Thomas was selected to the Jamaica National Team for two upcoming friendlies on Friday, March 25th against Venezuela and two days later versus El Salvador. The Reggae Boyz will host Venezuela at the Montego Bay Sports Complex in St. James prior to traveling to San Salvador for the team’s second match in three days time. Thomas, entering his ninth season in MLS, has made more than 30 appearances for Jamaica, ranked No. 48 in the latest FIFA rankings, and captained his country to the Caribbean Cup championship in December.
Auvray will again captain his national team as he leads Guadeloupe in a friendly against Racing Club de Lens of France’s Ligue 1 on Saturday, March 26th. The match will be played in Paris as a warm-up for Guadeloupe’s participation in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup this summer, with their third group stage match of the tournament to be played at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park against the U.S. Men’s National Team on June 14th. The marquee match is part of a doubleheader also featuring Canada versus Panama. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, March 16th at 10:00 a.m. CT.