Two Sounders FC Players Called into International Duty

June 4, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
Seattle Sounders FC News Release

RENTON, WASH. – Two Sounders FC players have been called into international duty, with defenders Nouhou and Stuart Hawkins joining their respective national teams for the June window. Nouhou joins Cameroon for a pair of 2026 FIFA World CupTM Qualifiers, while Hawkins joins the U-19 United States Men’s Youth National Team for a camp and friendlies in South America. Tacoma Defiance forward Osaze De Rosario has also been called up to the Guyana National Team for a pair of World Cup Qualifiers.

Nouhou, 26, has 32 career caps for Cameroon since 2018, playing every minute in all three of Cameroon’s 2022 FIFA World CupTM matches, including the country’s historic 1-0 win over Brazil. The Douala native most recently started all four of his appearances for Les Lions Indomptables during its 2023 Africa Cup of Nations run. Cameroon continues its World Cup qualifying campaign with matches against Cape Verde on Saturday, June 8 (6:00 a.m. PT) and Angola on Tuesday, June 11 (12:00 p.m. PT). Cameroon currently leads CAF Group D qualifying with four points (1-0-1) and a plus-three goal differential. Nouhou has started all 13 of his regular-season appearances for Seattle this season.

Hawkins, 17, is representing the USYMNT for the first time at the U-19 level, previously playing for the U-16s and U-17s. The Fox Island native was most recently called into duty for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia, making four appearances (three starts) for the squad, losing to eventual champion Germany in the Round of 16. Hawkins joins the U-19s for camp in South America before facing off in friendly matches against Argentina on Friday, June 7 in Buenos Aries and Uruguay on Tuesday, June 11 in Montevideo. This marks the final tune-up for the U-19s before this summer’s Concacaf U-20 Championship in Guanajuato, Mexico, which will send four nations to the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile. Hawkins has played every minute of Seattle’s 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup run, in addition to being included on the bench in MLS play against the Portland Timbers (May 12) and St. Louis CITY SC (May 25).

De Rosario, 22, earns his second call-up to Guyana, previously appearing in a Concacaf Nations League match against Antigua & Barbuda on November 21, 2023, where he scored a goal in a 6-0 win. Guyana begins Concacaf Group D play against Panama on Thursday June 6 (5:30 p.m. PT) and Belize on Tuesday, June 11 (3:00…