As Columbus Crew SC takes the pitch Saturday night in Carson, Calif. against the LA Galaxy, it will be without four players who will be out on international duty — including Harrison Afful (Ghana), Justin Meram (Iraq), Rodrigo Saravia (Guatemala) and Tony Tchani (Cameroon).
With this being the case, take a look at how to watch these four members of the Black & Gold as they represent their respective countries on the international stage.
Harrison Afful
Afful has earned 61 caps all-time for the Black Stars, and is slated to join the team ahead of two matches in the next week — with the first taking place in Accra against Rwanda as part of 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification (Sept. 3) and the second a friendly against Russia in Moscow (Sept. 6).
Ghana has qualified for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations as the winners of Group H and closes out qualification with this match against Rwanda. You can follow along with these matches through the Ghana FA Twitter account.
Justin Meram
Meram has earned 19 caps for Iraq in his career, and began Asian Football Confederation Third Round qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup by playing 90 minutes in a 2-0 loss against Australia Thursday. The Third Round of AFC qualification features two groups of six teams each in a double round-robin format, with the top two teams in each group directly qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the third-place team advancing to the Fourth Round.
RECAP: Meram plays full 90 as Iraq falls to Australia, 2-0
Iraq is in Group B along with Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Thailand, and will play against Saudi Arabia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Sept. 6). You can follow along with that match through the SoccerIraq Twitter account.
Rodrigo Saravia
Saravia has earned four caps for Guatemala, and joins the squad as part of its qualification efforts for the 2018 FIFA World Cup ahead of two matches against Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain (Sept. 2) and against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in Guatemala City (Sept. 6).
Guatemala is currently in third place in Group C of CONCACAF Fourth Round qualification, one point behind second-place Trinidad and Tobago. The top two teams from the group, which is currently led by the United States, advance to the Fifth Round, commonly known as the Hexagonal. These matches can be followed via ESPN FC, or FIFA.com.
Tony Tchani
Tchani has earned one senior cap Cameroon, and joins the team ahead of a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Gambia (Sept. 3) and a friendly against Gabon (Sept. 6), with both contests taking place in Limbe. Cameroon has clinched qualification to the final tournament by virtue of winning Group M.
Both matches can be followed along at FlashScore.com.
