Demarai Gray Edges Closer to Joining Jamaican National Team
The President of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Michael Ricketts, recently announced that Everton player Demarai Gray is on the verge of obtaining clearance to make his debut with the Jamaican national team, also known as the Reggae Boyz.
Gray, aged 26, has been scouted by the JFF for several months as Head Coach Heimir Halgrímsson builds a squad with the aim of winning the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer and qualifying for the FIFA World Cup in 2026.
Ricketts shared that Team Manager Roy Simpson had informed him about the smooth progress of Gray’s documentation process, which is nearing completion.
“We’ve had discussions with Gray,” Ricketts said on Friday. “I spoke with the manager some days ago and he assured me that the paperwork is okay and that he will be available. In fact, he assured me that he will have Demarai’s passport in his hand very soon so we are hoping he’ll definitely be a part of the set-up.”
Gray has been included in a provisional list required by Concacaf ahead of the Gold Cup.
As part of their preparations for the tournament, Jamaica will be traveling to Austria, where they have scheduled two warm-up matches against Qatar and Jordan on June 15 and 19, respectively. These matches will take place just days before their first Gold Cup game against the hosts and defending champions, the United States of America (USA), on June 24.
Ricketts revealed that he would be meeting with Halgrímsson this week to ensure that all team affairs are in order before the trip to Europe.
Jamaica’s impressive history in the Gold Cup includes finishing as runners-up in 2015 and 2017, reaching the semifinals in 2019, and making it to the quarterfinals in the previous tournament in 2021 before being eliminated by the USA. Nevertheless, both Halgrímsson and Ricketts appear eager to secure victory in this year’s edition of the tournament.
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