The CONCACAF Gold Cup may be in the rear view mirror, but the international game will return soon enough, leaving a host of MLS players with the desire to impress for the sake of future involvement.
As such, we're back with another report on which US national team and Canada national team candidates are hot on the trail of call-ups and who is currently falling by the wayside.
US national team
UP
Sacha Kljestan -- Have reports of the 31-year-old's international demise been greatly exaggerated? Since the Gold Cup break ended, Kljestan (who last appeared for the US in March) has been a man possessed. He's notched a goal, four assists and 17 key passes for a New York Red Bulls side that has lit up three straight victories with 13 goals from 64 shots. He was everywhere in attack during Saturday's rout of Montreal.
C.J. Sapong -- Another guy left out of the US's Gold Cup run put on a star show in the Philadelphia Union's revenge win over Columbus on Wednesday. Sapong netted his career-best 10th goal of the season to go with a pair of helpers. He also earned a spot kick that would be squandered by a teammate.
DOWN
Jesse Gonzalez -- After the high of picking up a Gold Cup winners medal last week, the FC Dallas netminder was brought crashing back to Earth in Saturday's shocking 4-0 loss to rude guests Vancouver. Gonzalez gave up a very soft opener on Bernie Ibini-Isei's middling distance shot and later allowed Nicholas Mezquida's sharp-angle bicycle kick right through his wickets.
Taylor Kemp -- The D.C. United man has slipped a great deal since his January call-up. Kemp was at fault on two more goals this weekend, making him among the culpable on seven leaks in the the last four games. It's also worth noting that the skillful crosser, who logged a half-dozen assists in each of the previous two seasons, has yet to notch one this year.
Canada National Team
UP
Raheem Edwards -- The Toronto FC flank handyman went unused at Gold Cup, and showed that may have been a mistake in Sunday's huge 4-0 win over NYCFC. The early injury replacement worked both right and left wingback during the contest, racking up 14 defensive stops and nine positive passes in or into the away end. And if that wasn't enough, he closed the scoring with a well-taken drive for his first career MLS goal.
Marcel de Jong -- Fresh from three solid showings to help Canada reach the Gold Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2009, the Vancouver Whitecaps veteran dove right back into MLS action on Saturday. In his first league start since early April, De Jong registered six tackles and four pass picks among 20 total defensive stops as the Whitecaps stunned hosts Dallas with a 4-0 defeat.
DOWN
Maxime Crepeau --- The youngster was handed his first ever league start on Saturday, and it definitely could have gone much better. Though Crepeau did log six saves, he also was complicit in the Montreal Impact's 4-0 defeat. The 23-year-old committed the penalty foul that led to the Red Bulls' opener, spilled a cross to tee up their second and was beaten short side from an angle on the capper.
Kofi Opare -- The 26-year-old naturalized Canadian seems to be getting further and further away from his first cap. After being among the guilty on five goals in last week's pair of defeats, Opare lost his starting place for D.C. in Saturday's depressing 4-0 loss to Minnesota United.
