Andres Flores set to miss Strikers, Silverbacks matches

The Cosmos are set to lose a player to an international call up for the first time in their modern history. Andres Flores has been called up by El Salvador, a squad that he will captain, for the 2014 Copa Centroamericana.

The Copa runs from September 3-13, meaning that Flores will be absent from the next two Cosmos matches. Those matches will both be played at Hofstra's Shuart stadium, against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Atlanta Silverbacks respectively.

Flores' absence will leave Gio Savarese without a player that's possibly the Cosmos' best since he joined the club, as Flores has been the creative spark for a team that often finds themselves struggling to create quality chances. What the manager will do in his absence will be interesting to see, and hopefully we'll have a bit of clarity on how he plans to replace the El Salvadorian at some point this afternoon.

El Salvador was drawn in Group A, where they'll be joined by Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. They'll play each of the nations in their group once, and the top three nations in the group will advance to the final day of the tournament, where they'll face the equivalent nation from Group B.