Sporting Kansas City announced Tuesday that Scottish forward Johnny Russell and Hungarian forward Daniel Salloi will join their respective national teams next week for the start of the inaugural UEFA Nations League.
Both players will be available for Saturday’s pivotal Western Conference clash at Seattle Sounders FC — slated for 3 p.m. CT on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest Plus, UniMas and streaming live on Twitter at @UnivisionSports — before traveling to Europe for international competition.
Russell and Scotland will play two home matches at Hampden Park in Glasgow, hosting world No. 2-ranked Belgium in a high-profile friendly on Sept. 7 before opening their UEFA Nations League campaign in Group C1 against Albania on Sept. 10.
Salloi and Hungary will begin UEFA Nations League play with two games in Group C2, traveling to meet Finland on Sept. 8 at Tampere Stadium in Tampere and hosting Greece on Sept. 11 at Groupama Arena in Budapest.
Russell made his first career start for Scotland on June 2 in a 1-0 friendly loss to Mexico at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. The 28-year-old has logged five appearances for Scotland, having debuted in a 2014 friendly against England, and is the lone player on head coach Alex McLeish’s 23-man squad to currently play outside of Great Britain at the club level.
Russell has enjoyed a superb first year at Sporting KC, leading the team in both goals and assists across all competitions with 10 each. Additionally, he is one of eight players league-wide with at least eight goals and eight assists during the 2018 MLS campaign. Russell is looking to become the fourth player in team history to reach double-digit goals and assists in a single regular season.
Salloi, 22, is set to join Hungary’s senior national team for the first time. He has represented the Magyars four times in 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying, notably notching a goal and an assist in a 2-0 win over Cyprus last November. Hungary’s 23-man roster is led by head coach Marco Rossi.
Salloi, a Sporting KC Academy product who signed for Sporting KC in 2016, leads all MLS Homegrown Players with 16 combined goals (nine) and assists (seven) in all competitions this season. He has seven goals and seven assists in 22 league appearances, helping to bolster a Sporting KC offense that ranks third in the Western Conference with 47 goals through 25 games.
Scotland Roster
Goalkeepers: Jordan Archer (Millwall), Craig Gordon (Celtic), Allan McGregor (Rangers)
Defenders: Jack Hendry (Celtic), Charlie Mulgrew (Blackburn Rovers), Stephen O'Donnell (Kilmarnock), Andy Robertson (Liverpool), Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen), John Souttar (Heart of Midlothian), Kieran Tierney (Celtic)
Midfielders: Stuart Armstrong (Southampton), Tom Cairney (Fulham), James Forrest (Celtic), Ryan Fraser (Bournemouth), Kevin McDonald (Fulham), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Callum McGregor (Celtic), Scott McTominay (Manchester United), Callum Paterson (Cardiff City)
Forwards: Leigh Griffiths (Celtic), Oli McBurnie (Swansea City), Matt Phillips (West Bromwich Albion), Johnny Russell (Sporting Kansas City)
Hungary Roster
Goalkeepers: Denes Dibusz (Ferencvaros), Peter Gulacsi (RB Leipzig), Adam Kovacsik (Mol Vidi)
Defenders: Tamas Kadar (Dynamo Kiev), Paulo Vinicius (Mol Vidi), Adam Lang (CFR Cluj), Barnabas Bese (Le Havre), Gergo Lovrencsics (Ferencvaros), Attila Fiola (Mol Vidi), Endre Botka (Ferencvaros), Krisztian Tamas (Mol Vidi)
Midfielders: Laszlo Kleinheisler (FK Astana), Zsolt Kalmar (DAC), Istvan Kovacs (Mol Vidi), Mate Patkai (Mol Vidi), Adam Nagy (Bologna), Gergo Nagy (Budapest Honved)
Forwards: Adam Szalai (TSG Hoffenheim), Roland Sallai (APOEL Nicosia), Daniel Salloi (Sporting Kansas City), Zoltan Stieber (D.C. United), Roland Varga (Ferencvaros), Marton Eppel (Almati Kajrat)
