FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas will be without three players for Sunday's game against the Houston Dynamo, as forward and captain Carlos Ruiz (Guatemala), defender Chris Gbandi (Liberia), and rookie midfielder Anthony Wallace (U.S. U-20) join their respective national teams. FC Dallas plays Houston for the first time this season on June 3 at Robertson Stadium (4 pm CT, live on TeleFutura).
• Ruiz has joined the Guatemala National Team which will participate in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the showpiece event for men's national teams as it crowns the regional champion. Guatemala is scheduled to play the United States (June 7) and El Salvador (June 9) at The Home Depot Center in California, and then travel to Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts to face Trinidad & Tobago for their first round games. The quarterfinals are scheduled for June 16-17, the semifinals on June 21, and the final on June 24. Ruiz will return to FC Dallas at the end of Guatemala's run in the tournament.
• Gbandi, the team's 2006 Defender of the Year, has been called in to represent his native Liberia in an African Nation's Cup qualifier versus Cameroon on June 2. He is expected to return to FC Dallas on June 6 and be available for the team's game on June 9 versus the Los Angeles Galaxy.
• Wallace, the team's first pick in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft who has yet to see first-team action this season, will join the U.S. U-20 National Team for the team's upcoming training camp from May 30 to June 6 in Canada as part of their preparation for the upcoming FIFA Under-20 World Cup, which will be held from June 30-July 22 in Canada. The U.S. was drawn into Group D with Korea Republic, Poland and Brazil.
• Additionally, second-year forward Dominic Oduro had been called in by the Ghana U-23 team for an Olympic Qualifier against Nigeria to be played on June 2. However, Oduro did not receive the necessary follow up details of the itinerary from the Ghana Federation and will not be taking part in the camp, thus remaining eligible for selection with FC Dallas this weekend.
