Antonio Has A Shot Of Scooping Top CONCACAF Accolade
Michail Antonio, a fully-fledged member of Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz, has been shortlisted for the prestigious CONCACAF 2021 Men’s Player of the Year Award.
The 31-year-old West Ham United hot-shot, who only made his international debut last September, is one of half-a-dozen players in with a chance of scooping top honours.
He has bagged three goals in six appearances for the Boyz, who have suffered a dismal CONCACAF World Cup qualifying campaign so far. Just one win in eight qualifiers resulted in head coach Theodore Whitmore given the boot. Paul Hall took over on an interim basis in December, but has lost all four games, including three crucial qualifiers. The fact that Antonio has been named as one of the six stand-out players in the region is testament to his resilience, as well as the fact that he can shine in an arguably average team who employ defensive tactics.
London-born Antonio was originally named in Jamaica’s provisional 60-player squad for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup in June. However, he was not named in the final 23-strong squad because he did not have his Jamaica passport in July.
A month later he secured his Jamaica passport and was named in a 35-player squad to tackle Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama. However, COVID-19 travel restrictions delayed his debut.
His much-hyped debut ended in disaster with an humiliating 3-0 reversal to Panama behind closed doors at Kingston’s National Stadium in September. The pitch was bumpy, the home players were arguing with each other and Antonio was left chasing shadows as a lone striker. Whitmore wisely withdrew the striker after 70 ineffective minutes.
Yet Antonio bounced back with aplomb last November, scoring a spectacular strike against El Salvador, in his second international appearance. He has since bagged goals against the United States and recently slotted home a spot-kick against Panama last month – the first World Cup goal for the Boyz against Panama since 2013.
Antonio, who last month signed a new club contract to stay with West Ham until 2024, took to social media last week to express his joy at representing Jamaica.
Following just under 12,000 air miles from London for the three World Cup qualifiers in Panama and Kingston, Antonio enthused: “I’m gutted we haven’t qualified for the World Cup [finals in Qatar], but the spirit of the team is strong. We’ll be back.
“Representing Jamaica is one of my proudest achievements in my career so far. Playing in Kingston was incredible and will stay with me forever.”
Antonio is competing against Canadian duo Jonathan David and Alphonso Davies, the US pair of Weston McKennie and Christian Pulisic as well as Mexico’s Hirving Lozano to win the newly-created CONCACAF Men’s Player of the Year Award.
Votes will come from national team head coaches (41) and captains (41), media (9) and fans (player with the highest votes (4), runner-up (3) and third place (2)).
Click here to vote for your CONCACAF Men’s Player of the Year
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