This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Sandy • The chase will have a wrinkle. It was to be expected, but it will no doubt will affect the final six weeks of the 2014 Major League Soccer season. The two upcoming FIFA international dates — Oct. 10 and Oct. 14 — will likely weaken clubs in MLS as top players in the league will likely depart to respective national teams for friendlies.

The United States men's national team has two friendlies scheduled stateside: Oct. 10 in East Hartford, Conn., against Ecuador and another four days later against Honduras on Oct. 14 in Boca Raton, Fla.

The Oct. 10 friendly against Ecuador will be a farewell match to arguably the best American player ever produced as 32-year-old Landon Donovan — who will retire from soccer once the L.A. Galaxy's season comes to a close — is expected to play in his final USMNT match in East Hartford. U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann was quoted earlier this month that he plans on bringing in the strongest group of players possible for the friendlies.

Which will likely include RSL captain Kyle Beckerman and all-time MLS shutout leader Nick Rimando, both of whom were part of Klinsmann's World Cup squad in Brazil this summer. Rimando, in contention for the No. 1 goalkeeper job with incumbent Tim Howard on a year hiatus, played in the first U.S. friendly since the World Cup on Sept. 3 at the Czech Republic. His four second-half saves preserved a 1-o win in Europe.

Regardless of who Klinsmann calls in, the U.S. friendly against Ecuador will have an RSL flair to it. Forward Joao Plata, the club's leading scorer in 2014 with 13 goals, was called in for Ecuador's two U.S.-based friendlies. The 22-year-old will be in camp ahead of the match against the U.S. in Connecticut and against El Salvador on Oct. 14 in East Harrison, N.J.

Plata is likely to miss RSL's home match against San Jose on Oct. 11 before returning for the club's lone visit to Portland on Oct. 17.

I asked RSL coach Jeff CassarMonday if he expects to lose players like Beckerman and Rimando to international call-ups. He answered, but didn't specify which potential players.

"I think we're only going to miss guys for the San Jose game," he said. "Obviously with travel and playing minutes, we'll have to see what goes on with that. But we could be missing more players, too."

Hint: Plata.

A question was then posed to Cassar about if he and the front office would ever consider asking national-team coaches to refrain from calling in RSL's big players in the increasingly-tight Western Conference playoff race.

"We usually talk to the players and see where their heart's at, where their minds are at," Cassar said Monday. "Obviously it's a special thing to represent your country, but if we can take care of business on this weekend [at Chivas USA], I feel very comfortable with all the players on our team. Again, it's an opportunity to give people confidence heading into the postseason because we're going to need everybody. It's just keeping the lines of communication open. But I'm rarely ever going to call Jurgen up sand say, 'We wouldn't like our players to go,' it's more of talking and seeing if we can do what's best for everyone."

Welcoming in a new Republic •RSL's Oct. 6 reserve-league match at Chivas USA has been cancelled. So Tuesday night's exhibition against USL Pro champions Sacramento Republic FC will serve as what Cassar calls "a playoff game" for players vying for rotation spots and minutes as the MLS Cup playoffs sit less than a month away.

An exhibition match is not ideal this late in the season. Coming off Saturday's 2-1 loss at Vancouver, RSL remains just a point ahead of FC Dallas for the third spot out West ahead of Sunday's visit to Chivas USA (more below).

The last friendly RSL played was against Mexico's Club Tijuana, a 1-1 draw on Aug. 12 that left second-year midfielder John Stertzer with a season-ending leg injury. But as Cassar noted, this match will be vital for how the playoff rotation is set up.

"I'm going to pray at night that nothing happens, but this is actually important for these guys," Cassar said. "Guys need minutes, especially with that game being canceled with Chivas … it's not a throw-in game. It ends up being an important tool."

One note I ensured I had correct (yes, a rarity) is the status of Homegrown player Sebastian Saucedo for Tuesday. While he is a Homegrown player, since Tuesday's match against Sacramento is not a reserve match, but a friendly, Saucedo is ineligible to play. His contract with RSL becomes official on Jan. 1.

In speaking with Skyline High product and former MLS striker Justin Braun, the 27-year-old Salt Lake City native said his first season with Republic has been near perfect. The club won the USL Pro title six months after its inaugural game and could be on the fast-track to joining MLS soon.

As for returning home? "It's great to come him and play in front of family and friends and the hometown crowd," Braun said.

Miscellaneousness • After RSL's 2-1 loss at Vancouver, Jeff Cassar summarized the night as "just not good enough." On Monday, Cassar characterized his comment as just not good enough from everyone involved — including the officiating.

"I thought our attitude and commitment was fantastic," he said. "It's a tough place to play and the turf doesn't help out. Our soccer wasn't good enough. We had the right mentality — can't fault the guys at all for that — but we also have to figure out a way to keep playing soccer even if it's a difficult surface, whether it's weather, surface, anything. We got to continue to play our game and we were just a little off."

Asked to elaborate on how RSL can discover "the soccer" midway through a match, Cassar said it's often difficult to find once again.

"You have to have some success," he said. "You have to have the belief that that's what's going to get you through this game. If you keep it on the turf, it's a much different game, and I think we went away from that a little too much. We didn't get it back."

-Cassar said he was watching the match between the Portland Timbers and Toronto FC Saturday morning when former RSL midfielder Will Johnson suffered a shattered tibia and fibula in the opening seconds of the match. Johnson, Portland's captain, is expected to miss approximately six months after undergoing successful surgery in Toronto.

"Right when it happened, I sent him a text saying I was praying for him," Cassar said. "I sent it five seconds after it happened. It's awful, but if anybody can come back from it, it's Will. He's a leader for that team on and off the field. He's going to be with them now in the locker room probably helping out Caleb [Porter]."

-And the stone-cold stunner of the day: ESPNFC.com's Jeffrey Carlisle reported Monday afternoon that Chivas USA will suspend operations at the end of the MLS regular season and is in the process of being sold by the league to an undisclosed investment group. According to Carlisle's report, Chivas USA is expected "to go dark for a minimum of two years until the new ownership group can plan and build a new stadium."

Busy Monday around MLS.

-Chris Kamrani

Twitter: @chriskamrani