The rollercoaster start to D.C. United midfielder Andy Najar’s international career has taken yet another interesting turn, with the 18-year-old left out of the Honduras roster named for upcoming friendlies against the U.S. in Miami on Oct. 8 and against Jamaica at home on Oct. 11.
Najar, who announced his international commitment in April following constant speculation from the moment he first signed with D.C. United last year, finally made his international debut earlier this month, coming off the bench against Ecuador in a 2-0 loss at Red Bull Arena on Sept. 3, and making his first start for Honduras in a 3-0 loss at home to Paraguay three days later.
Those friendlies did not cap tie Najar to Honduras, but similar to German-bred Timmy Chandler’s pledge to play for the U.S., Najar has always remained steadfastly committed to representing the country of his birth and not exploring what would be a long road to switching to the U.S. Still, his exclusion, one of a number of puzzling choices by Honduran coach Luis Fernando Suarez, doesn’t seem to make much sense given Najar’s future potential. It also creates the perception of some risk for the Hondurans, who also want Najar to get experience at the under-20 and under-23 levels before becoming a full national team regular.
Certainly, it hasn’t gone as expected.
One silver lining, of course, is that Najar will be available for D.C. United, which plays its final six games of the regular season over the next 24 days.
D.C. will have to handle the absences of one, and perhaps two other players, with Dwayne De Rosario having been called into the Canadian national team for World Cup qualifiers Oct. 8 at St. Lucia and against Puerto Rico in Toronto on Oct. 11, according to D.C. United general manager Dave Kasper. Due to his hamstring injury, Dejan Jakovic has not been called up. The second of the two internation fixture dates come one day before D.C. United makes its first visit to the Vancouver Whitecaps, which rules out De Rosario making the cross country excursion.
Meanwhile, given his recent participation in the U.S. national team setup, it seems likely that United goalkeeper Bill Hamid could be in consideration to figure in the U.S. squad that will face Honduras before playing Ecuador at Red Bull Arena on Oct. 11. The U.S. roster is expected to be announced in the coming days.
