Ghana defender Harrison Afful will miss at least one game for Columbus Crew following his call up to the Black Stars for games against Congo and Rwanda.
The 29-year-old appears to have finally clinched a starting place at his new club but manager Gregg Berhalter will be forced to shuffle his pack for the September 7 game against Dallas.
Afful will be on national team duty during this period.
Ghana will play Congo in an international friendly on September 1 before facing Rwanda in a 2017 AFCON qualifier four days later.
Some Ghanaian players – notably Samuel Inkoom - have suffered from their absolute dedication to national team duty by way of losing their regular place with their clubs.
Afful has had to work very hard to start enjoying a regular starting place since his arrival from Esperance almost two months ago.
Columbus Crew manager is likely to call on Gregg Berhalter Chris Klute as a replacement for Afful who will depart to join up with the Black Stars team after the weekend’s game against New York.