Orlando City Soccer Club defenders Brek Shea and Conor Donovan join the roster of players representing their home countries during the FIFA international friendly window. Orlando City boasts the most international call-ups of any MLS team.
Shea, Orlando City's starting left back, has been called up to the U.S. Men's National Team (USMNT) and will travel to Switzerland to train before taking on Denmark in Aargus on March 25 (3 p.m. ET - ESPN2) and Switzerland in Zurich on March 31 (12 p.m. ET - Fox Sports 1), prior to the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup TM qualifiers in June.
Donovan, the Lions' second round pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, will face Tottenham's U-21s on March 27 and England's U-21s on March 29 in preparation for the FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015. Shea and Donovan are among seven Orlando City players representing their national teams, alongside Kevin Molino (Trinidad and Tobago), Estrela (Portugal U-20), Rafael Ramos (Portugal U-20), Darwin Cerén (El Salvador) and Cyle Larin (Canada).
"Obviously, I'm delighted for our players who have been called up for national team duty because I know how much it meant to me as a player," said head coach Adrian Heath. "But, more importantly, I think the recent call-ups really demonstrate the caliber of players we've brought in for our first season."
Shea has made 29 appearances with the USMNT, scoring on three occasions. The defender most recently featured for the USMNT in friendlies against Chile (January 28) and Panama (February 8), scoring a superb left-foot goal against the South Americans.
Donovan has made a total of 35 appearances with the United States' Youth Teams, including 29 for the U-17s and six with the U-20s. Most recently, the young center back participated in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship Jamaica 2015, earning his country a spot in the FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015, starting in May 30th.
Since 2010, Molino has made 29 appearances for Trinidad and Tobago, finding the back of the net 12 times. Molino's most recent fixture with the Soca Warriors occurred on November 13, 2014, in the Caribbean Cup Finals against French Guiana where he finished as the team's top-scorer.
City's youngsters, Ramos, Estrela and Larin, will join their native countries for the first time since November 2014. Both Ramos and Estrela were previously called up by Portugal's U-20 side for a friendly against England, while Larin featured for Canada's senior team in a 1-0 loss against Colombia.
Cerén has made over 20 appearances for El Salvador in the past three years, scoring one goal and wearing the captain's armband on several occasions.
Orlando City SC travels to face the Montreal Impact on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET. The match will air on FOX 35 and FOX Sports Florida, as well as Real Radio 104.1 FM and La Grande 1030 AM. Orlando City then hosts D.C. United at the Orlando Citrus Bowl on April 3. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET.
