CHICAGO(May 30, 2021) – Chicago Fire FC today announced that defender Francisco Calvo and midfielder Gastón Giménez have been called up to the Costa Rica National Team and Paraguay National Team, respectively. Both players traveled to join their respective national team following the match against CF Montréal.
Calvo has been called up to represent Costa Rica for the Concacaf Nations League matches against Mexico and an opponent to be determined, and a friendly match against the United States. Costa Rica will face Mexico in the League A Semifinals of the Concacaf Nations League at 9:00 p.m. CT on Thursday, June 3 at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo. The winner of that match will face off against the winner of the other semifinal between the United States and Honduras on Sunday, June 6 at 8:00 p.m. CT at Empower Field at Mile High in the League A Final. Los Ticos will then head to Utah, where they will face the United States in a friendly match at 6:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday, June 9 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy. The match will be televised on ESPN2, UniMás and TUDN.
The Fire defender joins the Costa Rica National Team for the second time in 2021 after joining the team in March. Costa Rica played Bosnia and Herzegovina to a scoreless draw on March 27 at Bilino Polje Stadium in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and fell 1-0 to Mexico on March 30 at Wiener Neustadt Stadion in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.
Giménez will join Paraguay for a pair of CONMEBOL 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches. Paraguay is scheduled to continue qualifying in South America on June 3 on the road against Uruguay at the Estadio Centenario (5:00 p.m. CT) in Montevideo. The Albirroja will then host Brazil on June 8 at the Estadio Defensores del Chaco (7:30 p.m. CT) in Asuncion.
Giménez was called up to represent Paraguay for the first time in October 2020, earning a start in the 2-2 draw with Peru on Oct. 8 and scoring the game-winning goal in the team’s 1-0 win against Venezuela on Oct. 13. He also started and played in the 1-1 draw with Argentina on Nov. 12, and the 2-2 tie with Bolivia on Nov. 17.
Paraguay currently sits in fourth place in the CONMEBOL standings with six points through four matches played. The top four teams in the standings at the completion of the region's 18 rounds will qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The fifth-place team will enter the inter-confederation playoffs, where they'll compete against representatives from CONCACAF, the Asian Football Confederation, and the Oceania Football Confederation for one of two remaining qualification spots.
