UPDATED: Josef Martinez, Romario Williams called up for September international friendlies

It’s that time of the year again. Time to worry about your best players on international duty. In a few weeks time, FIFA’s international calendar will open for the first time since the end of the 2018 World Cup and countries around the globe will play their first friendlies of a new cycle. Atlanta United will likely have several players participating in these and one big one has already been confirmed.

Josef Martinez was included in Venezuela’s 24-player roster to play Colombia and Panama on September 7 and 11 respectively.

Thankfully, Martinez won’t have a ton of traveling to do as the match against Colombia is set to take place in Miami before a trip to Panama rounds out the friendly schedule.

The MLS Golden Boot leader is one of three MLS players to be called up by manager Rafael Dudamel, joining LA Galaxy’s Rolf Feltscher and D.C. United’s Junior Moreno.

The two friendlies come in the middle of a four-game away stretch for Atlanta United and will be sandwiched in between trips to D.C. on September 2 and Colorado on September 15. With so many games in a short span and the altitude being an issue in Colorado, that match could offer some problems as far as player availability.

UPDATED (9/3): Atlanta United have confirmed that Josef Martinez has indeed been called up by Venezuela. They’ve also announced that Romario Williams will be the only other Atlanta player to participate for their national team during the current international break