Ten Houston Dynamo players called into national team rosters

Ten players will represent Houston Dynamo Football Club in the upcoming FIFA window. All first team players will report to their national team after Houston’s match against LAFC on Sunday, Sept. 18.    

Dynamo captain Héctor Herrera, forward Sebas Ferreira, midfielder Coco Carrasquilla and midfielder Darwin Cerén, have been called into their country’s senior national teams. Meanwhile, forward Thor Úlfarsson, midfielder Juan Castilla, goalkeeper Xavier Valdez and Joyner Castillo have been called into their country’s youth national teams. Additionally, Andre Gitau and Zeke Soto will represent the Dynamo Academy with the U.S. Under-17 Men’s Youth National Team at the Vaclav Jezek Tournament in the Zlin region of the Czech Republic through Sept. 25.    

Herrera will report to the Mexican National Team camp as they finalize preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Herrera appeared in 10 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers during this cycle and aims to play in his third World Cup. El Tri will face Peru on Sept. 24 in the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles, Calif. Mexico will close their California tour on Sept. 27 when they face Colombia at Levi’s Stadium.    

Ferreira will join the Paraguayan National Team for a pair of friendlies in Europe. Ferreira is part of a new generation of young Paraguayan players attempting to break into Guillermo Barros Schelloto’s squad for the next FIFA World Cup cycle. The Albirroja will face the United Arab Emirates on Sept. 23 in Vienna, Austria. Paraguay will travel to Spain for their friendly against Morocco on Sept. 27.

Carrasquilla will join the Panamanian National Team for a friendly against Bahrain on Sept. 27. Carrasquilla was a regular performer during Panama’s FIFA World Cup campaign that saw Los Canaleros finish fifth in qualifying, one spot away from representing CONCACAF against CONMEBOL in the FIFA World Cup play-in game. Panama will close the year on Nov. 10 when they face Saudi Arabia in Europe.

Cerén will join the El Salvador National Team for a friendly against Honduras on Saturday, Sept. 24. Ceren is now the most capped player in the history of the El Salvador National team with 87 appearances. La Selecta will face Peru three days later at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.

Castilla was called into the Colombian U-20 squad for a pair of friendlies against the Dominican Republic on Sept. 24 and Sept. 27. A regular with the United States U-19 Men’s National Team, Castilla is eligible to represent both countries in FIFA competitions.

Valdez was invited to join the U-20 Dominican National Team for a pair of friendlies against his teammate Juan Castilla and the U-20 Colombian National Team. Valdez was instrumental in helping the Dominican Republic qualify for first time to the U-20 FIFA World Cup and 2024 Olympic games. Both friendlies will be played in the Dominican Republic beginning with the match on Sept. 24 in Santiago de los Caballeros. The match on Sept. 27 will be played in the Estadio Olimpico Felix Sanchez in Santo Domingo.

Úlfarsson was called into the Iceland U-21 national team for a two-game series against the U-21 Czech Republic to qualify for the U-21 UEFA EUROs. Iceland will host the first leg on Sept. 23 at Víkingsvöllur Stadium and the second leg will be played on Sept. 27 at Stadio Střelecký ostrov in České Budějovice, Czech Republic.

Castillo was invited to the U-20 Honduran National Team camp for a friendly against the U-20 Guatemalan National Team on Sept. 18 in New Orleans.

Gitau and Soto return to the U.S. U-17 YNT after they joined the program for a camp in Carson, Calif. last month. The duo regularly trains with Houston Dynamo 2 and have been constant members of the U-17 U.S. Youth National Team. The USYNT will face U-18 teams from Slovakia, Germany and the Czech Republic. Gitau was the youngest player at the 2022 MLS NEXT All-Star Game in Minnesota this summer and his performance at the MLS NEXT Cup in June earned him a spot on the “Best Of” game at the U-16 category. Soto is the youngest player on the roster, and this is his fifth USYNT appearance for the forward.