Turkish Delight For Reggae Boyz’ Veteran Striker Orgill
Dever Orgill has moved clubs in Turkey and joined ambitious Antalyaspor for their forthcoming season, as he bids to return to international duty with Jamaica for their CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers.
The 30-year-old free agent was preferred by the Antalya-based club to the controversial Mario Balotelli, having been released by Ankaragücü at the end of last season.
Orgill now has former German international forward Lukas Podolski as a team-mate, so will be expecting to catch the eye of Jamaica head coach Theodore Whitmore. Having notched just four goals in 17 appearances for Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz, Orgill will be aiming to become part of the set up that tackles the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers next year.
His new club Antalyaspor finished ninth in the 18-team top flight last season, but they are keen to fight for a Champions League berth and were one of a number of Turkish teams to have shown interest in Italian hotshot Balotelli. But the Port Antonio-born striker was preferred to Balotelli.
Orgill, who bagged 11 goals in Turkey’s Süper Lig last term, has almost always plied his trade overseas. He kicked off his career with the youth academy of Canadian team Vancouver Whitecaps in 2007 before signing professional terms for the 2008-09 campaign. However, a knee injury ruled him out for the rest of the season and in July 2010 he was released due to disciplinary issues.
Without a club Orgill returned to Jamaica where he signed for St. George’s SC (known locally as the Portlanders), where he spent three seasons and made his international debut before moving back to Canada. He finished as the top scorer in his first season with North Vancouver Federazione Calcio Campobasso, but was soon attracting a plethora of European scouts.
He signed a three-year contract with Finnish top tier team IFK Mariehamn in the capital of the Åland Islands, scoring 30 goals in 80 appearances. Austria’s Wolfsberger AC was his next port of call, putting pen to paper in November 2016. Yet competing in the second level of the Austrian football pyramid hindered his international aspirations during three seasons, where he scored just a dozen goals in 55 appearances.
Orgill bounced back from the disappointment of Austria to sign an 18-month deal in January 2019 with Ankaragücü. His displays earned another international call-up, and he rewarded Whitmore’s faith by scoring twice for the Boyz in their 3-2 success over Honduras in last year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.
With the new season of the Turkish Süper Lig set to kick off next month (September 11), the athletic six-footer is aiming to be given another shot to be part of Whitmore’s long-term plans as the Boyz bid to reach the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals in Qatar.
Download The Jamaican Blogs™ App for your Android device: HERE
Remember to share this article on Facebook and other Social Media Platforms. To submit your own articles or to advertise with us please send us an EMAIL at: [email protected]