The international window is off and running, although for the contingent representing their teams from the Seattle Sounders, it was a bit of a slow start.
Injuries to Raúl Ruidíaz and Xavier Arreaga in matches just before the break started meant there were some questions that the pair would even travel to Peru and Ecuador respectively. But both made it to South America for assessment by their medical teams before Thursday’s matches.
For Nouhou and the Roldan brothers, participation wasn’t contingent on injuries, but on the decisions of their coaches as a pivotal October qualifying window gets underway.