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Jamaica in the midst of identity change ahead of clash with the US

By Jackson Sperau

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - JULY 20: The Jamaica starting eleven huddle prior to the game against Costa Rica at Exploria Stadium on July 20, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - JULY 20: The Jamaica starting eleven huddle prior to the game against Costa Rica at Exploria Stadium on July 20, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) /
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ORLANDO, FLORIDA – JULY 20: Daniel Johnson #16 of Jamaica reacts during the first half against Costa Rica at Exploria Stadium on July 20, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – JULY 20: Daniel Johnson #16 of Jamaica reacts during the first half against Costa Rica at Exploria Stadium on July 20, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) /

Jamaican Football Federation (JFF) president Michael Ricketts has laid out an impressive plan to change the course of Jamaica as a footballing nation.

Jamaica and the United States are set to face off in the Gold Cup quarterfinals Sunday night in Arlington, Texas. This will be the fourth knockout stage meeting in the last five tournaments between these two nations. This match comes at an important time for the Reggae Boyz.

Over the last few months, Jamaica’s national team has made a push to bring in a number of new faces to their player pool selection. Most of these new faces hail from a certain part of the world, Europe or more specifically England.

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In March, Ricketts gave a press conference where he read off a list of names of English-born players who had begun the process of obtaining a Jamaican passport. The list included the following; Michail Antonio, Nathan Redmond, Mason Holgate, Demarai Gray, Kemar Roofe, Ivan Toney, Isaac Hayden, Andre Gray, Liam Moore, Kasey Palmer, Jamal Lowe and Max Aarons.

For many of these players, playing for Jamaica would give them their best chance of playing in a World Cup.

Unfortunately, it appears the JFF has failed to make any progress in convincing Toney and Aarons to join the Caribbean nation.

The federation has also reached out to Manchester United’s young star Mason Greenwood in hopes of attaining his international signature. This would be quite the get for Jamaica but it is one I do not see happening.

If Jamaica can land these English-born players they will join the likes of Bayer Leverkusen winger Leon Bailey, Bristol City defender Adrian Mariappa, Fulham defender Michael Hector and forward Bobby Decordova-Reid.

This collection of players would certainly bolster the Jamaican lineup and arguably give them the third-best squad in the CONCACAF.

If only it was that simple.

Days after Ricketts gave that press conference, the JFF and its players failed to reach an agreement over a new contract. The players were seeking a much higher base pay per game than the federation wanted to give them. The federation’s problems stem all the way down to their training staff who intentionally missed their trip to a friendly against the United States back in March as a result of their own pay dispute.

This disagreement over pay, along with passport delays due to the pandemic, could hurt the JFF’s plan to build a new-look roster. Despite all but two of these select players (Andre Gray and Liam Moore) missing out on Jamaica’s Gold Cup squad, the plan was always aimed towards having these dual-nationals in the squad come World Cup qualifiers later this year.

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With their eyes set on qualifying for the nation’s second-ever World Cup in 2022, the JFF and their Reggae Boyz will be keen to get a new contract deal across the line so they can land their newly sought-after recruits.

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