Saturday, Oct. 8 will mark a pair of homecomings for Arturo Alvarez, following his call up to international duty for El Salvador as announced on Sunday.
The Chicago Fire midfielder returns to the El Salvador set-up after a two-year absence and will look to appear for head coach Eduardo Lara's side in his hometown of Houston, Texas during their friendly against Canada at BBVA Compass Stadium.
"The last time I played for them was two years ago," Alvarez said. "I'm just happy to be back. I spoke to the coach and we had great conversations over the past four or five months, right before the Gold Cup."
Alvarez last appeared for El Salvador in a 1-1 friendly draw with Guatemala at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum back on Oct. 13, 2015, where he started and made a 62 minute appearance. In all, he's earned 43 caps and scored four goals for El Salvador, and has represented La Selecta in the 2011 and 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cups, the 2014 Copa Centroamericana and FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches.
"I'm happy to be going back for this friendly game," he said. "It's going to be a tough game against Canada. They had a good Gold Cup as well. I'm looking forward to it."
For the Fire, Alvarez has three goals and two assists to his name in 23 appearances this season, and has started four straight matches for the Men In Red. The opportunity to both make his national team return and represent El Salvador -- the nation of his parents' birth -- in his hometown is not lost on the 32-year-old.
"It's going to be awesome," he said. "All my family and friends are still there, so playing for El Salvador in Houston is always special."
Alvarez will depart for international duty on Oct. 2 and return to Chicago on Oct. 9.
