Sacramento Republic’s Diaz, Gomez, Belmar out on international duty

Sacramento Republic FC are in the midst of a busy week, but three of their players are currently on international duty around Concacaf.

Goalkeeper Rafael Diaz has been called up by the Dominican Republic, while defender Shannon Gomez has been selected by Trinidad & Tobago and forward Kharlton Belmar has gotten the nod from Grenada for the current international window, which is occurring while the USL Championship continues play.

All told, there are six games, two each for each of these players, all in World Cup qualifying, starting on Friday. Belmar and Grenada will play Antigua & Barbuda on Friday afternoon, although unfortunately it does not appear there will be any legal TV or streaming options in the United States for that game.

However, Diaz and D.R. will take on Barbados on Friday at 4 pm PT, and that will be streamed on Paramount+.

Then on Saturday, Gomez and T&T will take on Bahamas at 2 pm PT, which will also be streamed on Paramount+.

After that round, the next will kick off on Tuesday, with Gomez and T&T in action against St. Kitts & Nevis at 2 pm, but that doesn’t look like it will be televised. Same goes for Belmar’s Grenada game against Montserrat, also on Tuesday, at 4 pm, but looks like no U.S. TV or stream for that.

However, Diaz and Dominican Republic will get the Paramount+ platform again on Tuesday, at 6 pm PT against Panama. That’s a big, big game for D.R. against a team that reached the last World Cup.

These three already missed a Sac Republic game, on Wednesday against Oakland Roots, and they’ll miss Saturday’s game against Orange County SC. I would expect they’ll all also miss the following game, next Wednesday against Real Monarchs.

But hopefully all three see some playing time, help their respective countries, and of course, come back to their club healthy.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.