Experienced squad named for Nations League

Following Jamaica’s massive 6-0 defeat against hosts Catalonia in Wednesday’s friendly in Spain, Reggae Boyz head coach Paul Hall says he will be taking no chances in the upcoming Nations League.

The Reggae Boyz are scheduled to play against Suriname, home and away, in their opening round of the Nation’s League on June 4 and 7, respectively. They will then oppose Mexico on June 14.

Hall told The Gleaner that these international games form a very crucial part of the Reggae Boyz’s rebuilding phase and therefore, they will be going all out to ensure that they give a good account of themselves.

Late yesterday the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) named an experienced 20-man squad for the Nations League. Spartak Moscow striker Shamar Nicholson gets his first international call up since last November. Nicholson was not called on for the January or March windows as the Reggae Boyz completed their World Cup qualifying campaign.

The 20 that are confirmed are: Andre Blake, Damion Lowe, Richard King, Javain Brown, Devon Williams, Ravel Morrison, Tyreek Magee, Leon Bailey, Rolando Aarons, Shamar Nicholson, Amarii Bell, Jamoi Topey, Kaheem Paris, Junior Flemmings, Jamal Lowe, Amal Knight, Atapharoy Bygrave, Daniel Green, Oquassa Chong and Kenroy Campbell.

FINAL LIST

According to a release from the JFF, three more names will be added to the final list. Before the squad was named Hall had indicated that there would be changes.

“Yes, we will have a lot of senior players for those games (Nations League), because there are a lot of players to come back in from the World Cup campaign last month, and so I am looking forward to welcoming back our senior players,” Hall said. He added they are going to try their best to have a squad that is capable of winning the first three games.

On Wednesday the Catalonians were led to victory courtesy of a hat-trick from former Barcelona player Gerard Deulofeu in the fourth, 29th and 45th minutes at the Estadi Municipal de Montilivi in Girona, Catalonia, Spain

Marc Bartra in the 34th minute, Ferran Jutgla in the 74th and Javi Puado (89th) were the other scorers for Catalonia. According to Hall, the Reggae Boyz team, which consisted of a number of new and inexperienced players, played well in patches, but there were too many individual mistakes in the defence.

“This was a squad to look at the players, for them to put themselves forward, and some of these players have not played for Jamaica,” he said. “I think a lot of players found out what international football is like, and they would have benefited from the experience a lot.”