The Portland Timbers could be without their starting goalkeeper at the end of the month after rumors of a call-up to the Ghanaian national team have surfaced. According to reports posted to ghanaweb.com, and several other Ghanaian news sites, Kwarasey has accepted a call-up for Ghana's international friendlies against Senegal and Mali on March 28th and 30th in Le Havre, France. Word around the Timbers practice, however, is that there is no truth to the rumors.

There had not yet been any official comment from the team.

If Kwarasey does travel for the two matches, he would miss the Timbers' away match against the Vancouver Whitecaps on the 28th. The match is the first Cascadia Derby of the season and the Timbers' fourth match of the year.

In any potential absence from their No. 1 keeper, the Timbers are currently in a tight situation. The team's two backup keepers, Andrew Weber and Jake Gleeson, have both had claims to the second spot on the depth chart over the last year, but it seems that Gleeson's star is on the rise after a strong showing while on loan with last year's USL Champions, the Sacramento Republic.

Things get tricky when considering Gleeson's recent injury history. Coming off a month-long stint out of practice following a preseason high ankle sprain, Gleeson has not yet fully returned to training. The New Zealand net-minder was back in limited training yesterday and looks to be on track for a full return shortly.

(h/t #1 Leverage Fan for posting the rumor to the comments this morning.)