With a return to the Premier League on the line, the Leeds United players have enough to occupy their minds right now without shifting their focus to a summer of international committments.
Yet, as the Gold Cup draw was confirmed on Friday, Junior Firpo could at least take a few moments to distract himself from a tense title fight which looks destined to go right down to the wire.
Leeds United’s former Barcelona full-back switched his allegiance from Spain to the Dominican Republic last year.
Eleven caps into his career for Los Quisqueyanos, the 18th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup will also be Firpo’s first. A maiden international tournament at the age of 28.
The Dominican Republic have been drawn in Group A alongside Mexico, Costa Rica and Suriname. As such, Firpo could find himself facing off against a very familiar face.
According to reports, Suriname are looking to ensnare Crysencio Summerville ahead of this summer’s Golden Cup campaign. The West Ham winger – a former teammate of Firpo’s at Elland Road – has represented the Netherlands at youth level, all the way up to the Under-21s.
However, Summerville is also eligible to represent Suriname via his parents.
Former Leeds United teammates Junior Firpo and Crysencio Summerville may be reunited at Gold Cup
If this is an opportunity he opts to take up – Summerville remains on the fringes of Ronald Koeman’s Dutch squad without managing to break through – then he could find himself going eyeball-to-eyeball with Junior Firpo during what would be a maiden international tournament for the Leeds favourites past and present.
Joel Piroe is another in Suriname sights.
A nation sitting 137th in the FIFA World Rankings – between Bostwana and Latvia – have spent recent months looking to tempt a number of players either not quite at the required level for the Netherlands roster, or those frustrated with a lack of opportunities under the aforementioned Koeman.
Kenneth Paal of QPR is part of the Suriname squad squad these days. So too Royal Antwerp forward Gyrano Kerk, Groningen goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen, Middlesbrough duo Delano Burgzorg and Anfornee Dijksteel, plus Sheraldo Becker of Real Sociedad.
Danilho Doekhi, the defender who played Champions League football for Union Berlin, is also expected to join up in June.
Piroe turned down the chance to represent Suriname during March’s double-header against Martinique. However, this was a decision borne out of his desire to stay fit and fresh during the Championship run-in.
Come the end of the season, with a Gold Cup campaign set to take Suriname from San Diego to Texas and beyond, Piroe might not be quite so quick to hang up the call.
“It is of course always an honour that they [Suriname] invited me,” Piroe said a couple of weeks ago. “But I also told them that, given the toughness of the competition at the moment, I want to take my rest during international periods.
“For now, it is difficult to travel all the way to Suriname and play my matches there. I want to focus fully on club football now. At the moment, I am only thinking about the title.
“I am not closing the door to the Dutch national team. But, at the moment, I do not know what I would like most. It is an honour [to represent] both.”
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