Opinions vary as to who follows behind Mexico, Canada and the United States as the best teams in Concacaf. The Reggae Boyz of Jamaica believe their increased recruitment of England-born players could put them into that conversation.
Let Merron Gordon — a stalwart in the Jamaica Football Federation since 2011 — tell it.
Gordon is an assistant coach under Steve McClaren with the men’s national team, and the two are responsible for recruiting players into the national team talent pool. Jamaicans born abroad who “return home,” as Gordon put it, have been a part of that recruitment since UK-born players Robbie Earle, Fitzroy Simpson, Paul Hall and Deon Burton arrived in 1997. They helped Jamaica clinch a berth at the 1998 FIFA World Cup with a momentous draw against Mexico.
This Reggae Boyz rendition is different. Not only are more players from abroad joining the national team, but they’re arriving earlier in their careers, invoking an unprecedented level of competition in the squad. Case in point, 21-year-old Charlton Athletic winger Tyreece Campbell and Burton Albion‘s 24-year-old Rumarn Burrell.
“Since I’ve been around the team, this is the most competitive squad we have ever had,” Gordon told ESPN. “… The gap [in talent among the squad] was way too wide a few years ago. The gap is slowly closing fast. That is the reason why I think we are going to do good, not just in Gold Cup, but my main focus is going to the World Cup. Yes, I want to win the Gold Cup. To get a squad going for this Gold Cup is our priority, and then we can just piggyback on that going into the World Cup qualifiers in September.”
Of the 26 players on Jamaica’s Gold Cup roster, 14 represent clubs in the UK, and six of those 14 are 25 years old or younger. Fourteen players — including Campbell, Burrell, Michail Antonio, Demarai Gray, Isaac Hayden, Mason Holgate and Bobby De Cordova-Reid — were born in the UK.
Mason Greenwood, despite electing in March to switch his allegiance from England to Jamaica, still does not hold a Jamaican passport, the JFF told ESPN. West Bromwich Albion forward Devante Cole — son of former Manchester United and England striker Andy Cole — plus Coventry City‘s Ellis Simms, Arsenal‘s Reiss Nelson, Stoke City‘s Lewis Baker and Ipswich Town‘s Omari Hutchinson are eligible to play for Jamaica.
“We’re not just focusing on now, but also looking to the future,” McClaren told reporters before Jamaica’s Gold Cup opener against Guatemala. “We followed these players for many months. We recruit throughout Europe, as well as on the island of Jamaica, also the U.S., so we’re looking for better players and good players all over the world. And so we’re bringing these players in, not for experience.”
Gordon was interim coach for the Reggae Boyz in 2022, following Theodore “Tappa” Whitmore and before Heimir Hallgrímsson, but also coached the Reggae Girlz in 2014 — the only person in federation history to be head coach of both senior teams.
“One of [McClaren’s] top qualities is that he is very good with people,” Gordon said. “Players will want to come to play. You might be thinking, ‘Eh, going to Jamaica, a small island, ‘ but then you have a big product to deal with in terms of a big coach. The Reggae Boyz is a big brand. And McClaren is also a big brand. So to put that together, that probably might be a reason for some of the interest now.”
Since McClaren was appointed head coach last July, Burrell, Campbell, Holgate and Hayden have made their debuts for the Reggae Boyz. There’s something to be said about the latter two, who represented England extensively in its youth national team setup.
“What I’ve realized about European-based players, they want to leave a legacy,” Gordon said. “They want to leave a football legacy. It’s not just the money for them. [It’s about] winning tournaments, competing in tournaments. And to be honest, most of these kids, probably, their first choice when they are very, very young growing up — they’re born and [have] grown up in England, [they] probably want to play for England. But as their teenage years finish, and they realize, ‘Oh, will my opportunity come with England or will my opportunity come with Jamaica?’ And some just choose us early.”
Damion Lowe knows about legacy. This is the former Inter Miami CF and Philadelphia Union center back’s fifth Gold Cup. Only Philadelphia goalkeeper Andre Blake has been to more for Jamaica. Lowe, now 32 and playing in Saudi Pro League with Al Okhdood, said during Sunday’s pre-match news conference that he remembers his 2017 Gold Cup team that had few players based abroad at the club level.
“Moving forward to this Gold Cup tournament, I feel like we have more experience,” Lowe said. “We have players playing all over the world, bringing different qualities, different experiences from their club. It has helped us to grow a lot and to make the national team more competitive.”
Gordon said younger players committing to the national team is more than just a decision made on paper — European football and Concacaf soccer are “two different ball games.” There’s a seismic shift in the style of play that takes place, adjusting not only to the international game but also from UEFA to Concacaf.
“This has certainly been an education for me in terms of everything, the culture within the island of Jamaica, and getting used to different types of surfaces that we come across in the Caribbean,” McClaren said. “That’s been a challenge. We’ve had these kinds of games a few times. We had Honduras away, we had Nicaragua away — hostile atmospheres. I think it’s great … there’s never an easy game in this Concacaf.”
That much was made apparent in Jamaica’s opener in the tournament, a 1-0 loss to Guatemala on June 16. McClaren told reporters that Holgate sustained a knee injury in their World Cup qualifier against Guatemala six days prior.
The JFF medical staff conducted a scan of Holgate’s knee and told McClaren the center back will be sidelined for “two to three weeks.” Mount Pleasant FA’s Sue-Lae McCalla replaced him. McClaren also sent Hayden home due to “stomach cramps and respiratory problems.” Twenty-year-old Charlton midfielder Karoy Anderson replaced Hayden.
To best avoid failing to reach the Gold Cup knockout stage for the first time since 2009, Jamaica will have to snag a win against Group C leader Panama in Austin at Q2 Stadium on Tuesday ueand bridge the four-goal difference gap that would stand as the tiebreaker between the two sides, if Jamaica was to win. The perplexing Guatemala loss was Jamaica’s first defeat to Los Chapines since October 2012. Although without Hayden and Holgate available for Gold Cup action, this is the same Jamaica side that waxed Guatemala, 3-0, on June 12 in Kingston.
“And credit to Guatemala,” McClaren said after their Gold Cup-opening loss. “They must’ve been seething after that first game. You could see that, and I thought we’d coped and dealt with it. And once you go down, the first goal is always important. That’s something to fight for and hold on for.”
The positive takeaway from the game was center forward and West Ham United‘s all-time Premier League goal-scoring leader (68 goals) Antonio returning to play his first game since Dec. 3. Antonio was in a single-vehicle car crash on Dec. 7, when he struck a tree in Greater London’s Epping Forest. Antonio, who has scored five goals for Jamaica, entered the game in the 85th minute.
The Reggae Boyz are eager to send a message, both to the island and the region, that they are right there with the top three nations.
“Concacaf is a tough group,” Gordon said. “Either Mexico or the U.S., one or two, Canada (is) slowly behind them. We want to move [into] the top four, top three in Concacaf, and gradually, be on top. So it’s a gradual process and it is a tough process, but you know if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.”
