PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland Timbers midfielders Cristhian Paredes (Paraguay) and Andy Polo (Peru) have been called up by their respective national teams for friendly matches during the FIFA international break. Both players will return to the team ahead of Portland’s first leg of the two-game, aggregate-goal Western Conference Championship in the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs against Sporting Kansas City at Providence Park on Sunday, Nov. 25.
Polo, 24, and Peru will host Ecuador at Estadio Nacional de Lima in Lima, Peru on Thursday, Nov. 15, beginning at 5:30 p.m. (Pacific), followed by a matchup against Costa Rica at Estadio Nacional de la UNSA in Arequipa, Peru, on Tuesday, Nov. 20; kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. (Pacific). Paredes, 20, will join Paraguay for the Nelson Mandela Challenge, a friendly invitational match against South Africa at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa, on Tuesday, Nov. 20; kickoff is set for 9 a.m. (Pacific).
Upon returning from the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Polo was named to the Peru Men’s National Team roster last month, logging 14 minutes in a 3-0 win against Chile at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Fla. on Oct. 12. Four days later, he played 90 minutes and recorded an assist in a 1-1 draw against the United States at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. Since making his senior team debut in 2016, Polo has earned 18 caps for Peru.
Paredes has earned one cap for the Paraguay Men’s National Team, coming on as a second-half substitute in a friendly against France on June 2, 2017.
