Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By JUSTIN FERGUSON

A tough road trip to CenturyLink field just got a lot tougher for D.C. United.

The club confirmed Tuesday that midfielders Dwayne De Rosario and Nick DeLeon will both miss Wednesday’s match against the Seattle Sounders due to injury.

De Rosario, who is out with a hip flexor injury, came off in the 69th minute of last Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Vancouver. DeLeon was not in the 18 for that match due to a sprained ankle.

It is another injury blow for DeLeon, who missed the entire month of April with a right hamstring problem. The second-year player has made only 11 appearances for DCU so far this season.

For Seattle, DeAndre Yedlin and Lamar Neagle are set to return to the squad for Wednesday’s match, but midfielder Osvaldo Alonso will be out once again due to injury.

Here are some more stories from around Major League Soccer:

SOUNDERS REPORTEDLY CLOSE TO SIGNING PANAMA DEFENDER

A trialist defender is turning heads in Seattle, and this Gold Cup-bound teenager may soon be a full-time member of the Sounders.

The Sounders are reportedly close to signing 19-year-old Panama center back Robert Chen, who recently left his trial with the club to join the rest of his country’s Gold Cup squad in Los Angeles.

“We’ve had an eye on him,” Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid told The Seattle Times. “We liked him then at that age, and obviously he did his ACL in between that, so he had to recover from there. In the interim, we’ve been waiting for him to heal and try to get him back up here so we could have a look at him. It was good for us to get a look at him and get to know him as a person.”

A report out of Panama pulled a recent Twitter update from a representative for Chen. The representative said there were only a few final details left to work out between Chen and Seattle in terms of a contract.

The Sounders first came in contact with Chen, a member of Panamanian side San Francisco, during the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League. Chen and the rest of Panama’s Gold Cup squad will be at the home of the Sounders, CenturyLink Field, on July 11 for a match against Martinique.

SCORPIONS EXTEND LOAN DEAL FOR SOUNDERS’ ZAVALETA

After recording a goal and an assist in Saturday’s match against the Fort Lauderdale strikers, Eriq Zavaleta will be available for one more match as a San Antonio Scorpion.

The NASL club announced Tuesday that the loan deal for the Seattle Sounders’ rookie had be extended to the club’s final match of the Spring Schedule, a home contest with the league-leading Carolina RailHawks.

The third-place Scorpions still have a chance to win the league’s Spring Championship. If San Antonio beats Carolina by three or more goals and Minnesota beats Atlanta, then the Scorpions will win the title and home-field advantage for the Soccer Bowl.

Zavaleta, the 10th overall pick in the 2013 SuperDraft, has made three appearances for San Antonio. The Scorpions have won all three of those matches, giving them a chance for the Spring title.

CHIVAS USA TO SIGN SECOND HOMEGROWN PLAYER

Chivas USA’s slim roster could receive a boost in the coming days as the club is reportedly close to signing its second Homegrown Player.

Caleb Calvert, a 16-year-old forward, is set to be the next player called up from Chivas USA’s youth academy. The California native scored 22 goals in 27 games with the club’s U-18 squad and recently scored a goal in a reserve match against Seattle.

Calvert is a member a part of the USMNT U-17 camp that kicks off later this week in Los Angeles. The young forward was a verbal commitment to UC Santa Barbara, but it appears that he will bypass college and go straight to the professional ranks.

TFC’S EARNSHAW TO MISS MONTREAL MATCH

In the midst of some positive news surrounding their recent spike in deals, Toronto FC was dealt some bad news ahead of their all-Canada clash with Montreal.

Forward Robert Earnshaw will miss the club’s match with Montreal with the calf injury that kept him out of Saturday’s loss to Real Salt Lake.

The Welsh international started the season on a tear for Toronto, scoring five goals in his first six matches with the club. Since that start, he cooled off, scoring just one goal for TFC.

In other TFC news, defender Steven Caldwell has been signed to a permanent deal with the club. The former Birmingham City loanee has been a key part in Toronto’s defensive revitalization of the past few weeks.

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What do you make of these reports? What do you think DCU’s chances are in Seattle without De Rosario and DeLeon? See Chen making an impact with the Sounders? How big of a blow do you think Earnshaw’s injury will be to TFC?

Share your thoughts below.