Raúl Ruidíaz finally joined his Seattle Sounders teammates in training on Wednesday, officially ending an ordeal that forced him to miss the first month-plus of preseason.
The Peruvian striker was always planning to miss some of preseason after getting called up to his national team for some World Cup qualifiers. But after those matches got canceled, the expectation was that he’d be able to join the Sounders relatively quickly.
Instead, immigration paperwork caused a delay that lasted nearly a month. The upshot, at least, is that Ruidíaz now has his green card, opening up an international roster spot.