MLSers feature on Friday and Saturday across Europe, South America, Africa

Jonathan dos Santos - LA Galaxy - in action for Mexico vs. Uruguay

The international break is rolling along, and plenty more MLSers have featured for their national teams over the last 24 hours.


Along with an MLS-heavy United States squad's friendly loss to Brazil, the highest-profile game on Friday evening saw two Western Conference rivals go up against each other when Mexico faced South American heavyweights Uruguay in Houston. The LA Galaxy's Jonathan dos Santos started for El Tri but was removed at halftime with Uruguay having run out to a 3-1 advantage. The Seattle Sounders' Nicolas Lodeiro came on as a 68th-minute substitute for La Celeste after they had added another, rounding out a 4-1 win.


MLS players also featured on both sides as Ecuador took on Jamaica at Red Bull Arena on Friday, with ended in a 2-0 victory for the South American outfit. Minnesota United's Romario Ibarra was a 67th-minute substitute for the Ecuadorians with his team already up by two. Atlanta United's Romario Williams started for the Reggae Boyz and went 60 minutes, but Andre Blake (Philadelphia Union), Cory Burke (Philadelphia), Darren Mattocks (D.C. United) and Kemar Lawrence (New York Red Bulls) did not feature.


Further south, three MLS players started as Venezuela faced rivals Colombia in Miami, including new league goalscoring king Josef Martinez, who went 68 minutes. Martinez will now return to Atlanta instead of traveling to face Panama, as agreed prior with the club. D.C.'s Junior Moreno went the distance for the Vinotinto while LA's Rolf Feltscher played the first 62 minutes and Real Salt Lake's Jefferson Savarino entered in the 81st. Venezuela could not make an early lead hold up, however, and conceded the winning goal in the 90th minute of a 2-1 loss.


Saturday saw a handful of MLS players in action in UEFA Nations League action. Minnesota midfielder Rasmus Schuller set up the lone goal of a 1-0 win with a through ball as Finland got off to a winning start against Hungary: 


September 8, 2018

Schuller would go 63 minutes in that contest, while the Montreal Impact's Jukka Raitala started and played all 90 minutes. On the other side, D.C.'s Zoltan Stieber started and played 54 minutes for Hungary, while Sporting KC's Daniel Salloi did not get off the bench.


New York City FC's Maxime Chanot was the only other MLSer involved in Saturday's UEFA Nations League action and helped anchor the backline as Luxembourg cruised to a 4-0 victory over Moldova, the largest home win in team history.


It was a special day for the Vancouver WhitecapsAly Ghazal, who made his first appearance for Egypt in four years as they romped to a 6-0 win over Niger in 2019 African Cup of Nations qualifying. Even after superstar Mohamed Salah struck twice for the Pharaohs, new Egypt coach Javier Aguirre singled out Ghazal as the man of the match. Orlando City's Amro Tarek was on the bench for Egypt, but did not feature.


A couple other players were on the wrong end of an upset, as 10-man Kenya shocked Ghana with a 1-0 win. NYCFC's Ebenezer Ofori started and was replaced in the 58th minute by Columbus Crew SC's Harrison Afful.


Elsewhere in AFCON qualifying, Montreal's Saphir Taider started for Algeria in a 1-1 draw at Gambia, while Ismael Tajouri-Shradi (NYCFC) and Mohamed El-Munir (Orlando) both started as Libya held South Africa to a 0-0 draw in Durban.