Difficult Trip To Gold Cup Lies Ahead For Reggae Boyz Head Coach
Heimir Hallgrimsson selects eight strikers in desperate bid to end Jamaica’s stuttering displays
Heimir Hallgrimsson, the under pressure Jamaica head coach, has released his CONCACAF Gold Cup 23-player squad, surprisingly with just a trio of recognised midfielders and a staggering eight strikers.
The former Iceland chief has overlooked QPR’s tricky Jamal Lowe and DC United’s Ravel Morrison to tackle the prestigious tournament. He’s only opted for Kevon Lambert, who plies his trade in the US, and the England Championship duo of Daniel Johnson and Jon Russell in the midfield department.
Following back-to-back 2-1 defeats to Qatar and then Jordan in friendlies in Austria, with both scorelines failing to paint the true picture of Jamaica’s inferiority, Hallgrimsson simply has to get things right soon or he may face the boot.
On paper both results look like slender defeats, but were far from it and the Reggae Boyz notched a penalty in each contest. The stuttering coach altered his first 4-2-2-2 formation against Qatar to a more solid 4-3-3 lineup against Jordan. However, neither displays were not eye-catching as Jamaica lacked cohesion.
Goals from open play have been virtually impossible to come by for the Boyz. So understandably Hallgrimsson is pinning his hopes on English Premier League aces Michail Antonio, Leon Bailey, Bobby Decordova-Reid and debutante Demarai Gray to potentially deliver the goods.
Chelsea-bound teenager Dujuan “Whisper” Richards, the island’s Phoenix All Stars Academy star, could spring to life having been a virtual spectator when he faced Qatar. The athletic and physical trio of Cory Burke, Shamar Nicholson and Kaheem Parris complete the frontline.
Skipper Andre Blake, who made a hatful of brilliant saves to prevent Jamaica’s blushes against Jordan, is among the best shotstoppers in US top flight so is a safe pair of hands.
The veteran will be shielded by a choice from Hallgrimsson’s defenders that includes Di’Shon Bernard, recently released by Manchester United, and stalwart Adrian Mariappa. Brentford’s brilliant Ethan Pinnock has been named, but he may be replaced as his wife recently experienced problems giving birth.
It’s the rebirth of Jamaica that calm Icelandic Hallgrimsson has to swiftly oversee. In such a results-driven industry, he must accept responsibility for seemingly taking the Reggae Boyz backwards since his appointment in January.
He’s made an appalling start for the 2015 and 2017 Gold Cup finalists, failing to register a single win in his six outings.
When former players Theodore Whitmore and Paul Hall were in charge they were on a hiding to nothing from fans, pundits and the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF). They constantly oversaw dismal displays and dire results, leaving Jamaica as a laughing stock across the Caribbean.
The injection of money from bringing on adidas as shirt sponsors for the Boyz and the 2023 FIFA World Cup-bound Reggae Girlz was meant to herald the start of something special by splashing the cash on the big-name signing of Hallgrimsson.
His remit was to rebuild and fine tune his squad ahead of kicking off the World Cup qualifying campaign, which the JFF expects to sail through.
Jamaica’s route to the 2026 World Cup finals has been made simplistic with main rivals Canada, Mexico and the United States each being given an automatic berth as co-hosts. Yet all appears to be going badly wrong for the JFF and Hallgrimsson.
A pair of insipid performances against a youthful and experimental Trinidad & Tobago side in March, who were so brilliantly coached by Angus Eve that he won over the plaudits, has left the JFF in disarray.
They won’t allow the rot to continue. Jamaica have a tough task to escape their group as they face defending champions US, Eve’s Soca Warriors and either French Guiana or St. Kitts & Nevis.
The US, crowned Nations League champions last weekend following a 2-0 win over Canada, have interim head coach in charge to play the Boyz at Chicago’s Soldier Field on 24 June.
The Boyz will face Trinidad & Tobago, who replaced banned Nicaragua in Group A, at CITYPARK in St. Louis four days later. Jamaica were twice outplayed on home soil by the Soca Warriors in March’s friendlies, so Eve will be fully prepared with a much stronger squad.
Jamaica complete their group games at Levi’s Stadium against the preliminary round winner in Santa Clara on 2 July. St. Kitts & Nevis have never made it to the Gold Cup group stages, but the Sugar Boyz stunned much-fancied Curacao via a penalty shootout success following their 1-1 stalemate. Should French Guiana progress then it will be their first group stage appearance since 2017.
A dozen nations enter into the main draw, joined by three preliminary round winners and Asian champions Qatar as the tournament’s guest participant.
The quartet of groups are headed by USA (Group A), managerless Mexico (Group B), Costa Rica (Group C) and Canada (Group D). The top two teams who finish highest in the four-team groups progress to the quarter-finals of the 17th edition of the Gold Cup, which concludes at the SoFi Stadium on 16 July.
With Diego Cocca axed as Mexico manager today, after just four months at the helm, following their poor performance in the ill-tempered Nations League semi-final 3-0 defeat to US then Hallgrimsson’s flawed reign cannot afford any slip ups at the Gold Cup.
Already the JFF’s left-field appointment seems flawed and they surely won’t persist with such disorderly displays that has dragged down the popularity of the Boyz since Hallgrimsson arrived.
This will be Jamaica’s 13th shot at Gold Cup glory, but that number may prove unlucky for Hallgrimsson unless he can spring his squad into action. He has big boots to fill after the Boyz made history eight years ago by becoming the inaugural Caribbean team to reach the final.
JAMAICA GOLD CUP SQUAD
Goalkeepers | Andre Blake (Philadelphia Union, USA), Coniah Boyce-Clarke (Reading, England), Jahmali Waite (Pittsburgh Riverhounds, USA)
Defenders | Amari’i Bell (Luton Town, England), Di’Shon Bernard (unattached), Javain Brown (Vancouver Whitecaps, Canada), Joel Latibeaudiere (Swansea City, Wales), Kemar Lawrence (Minnesota United FC, USA), Dexter Lembikisa (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England), Damion Lowe (Philadelphia Union, USA), Adrian Mariappa (Salford City, England), Ethan Pinnock (Brentford, England)
Midfielders | Daniel Johnson (Preston North End, England), Kevon Lambert (Phoenix Rising FC, USA), Jon Russell (Barnsley Town, England)
Strikers | Michail Antonio (West Ham United, England), Leon Bailey (Aston Villa, England), Cory Burke (NY Red Bulls, USA), Bobby Decordova-Reid (Fulham, England), Demarai Gray (Everton, England), Shamar Nicholson (Spartak Moscow, Russia), Kaheem Parris (FC Dynamo Kyiv, Ukraine), Dujuan Richards (Phoenix All Stars, Jamaica)
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