Gray became the most recent player in the modern era to set his sights on assisting the nation of his family, 25 years after they called on English-born players with Jamaican ancestry like Robbie Earle, Frank Sinclair, and others to reach the World Cup finals for the first – and so far only – time.The Birmingham-born Gray, 27, represented England at every age group level from Under-18 to Under-21, when he scored eight goals in 26 games.
He was even on the bench for a friendly match against Switzerland in 2018 but was never given a chance to play.
Three years later, Gray was identified as one of the athletes attempting to obtain a Jamaican passport to aid in an effort to travel to Qatar for the World Cup last year.
Although the procedure took longer than expected, it was ultimately authorized last month, allowing him to join the expanding group of English-based players seeking to help Jamaica reach just a second Gold Cup final.
On Thursday at 3:00 BST, they will compete in their toughest test to date as they take on tournament favorites Mexico.
“I have always been proud of my Jamaican heritage, and joining the national team is a dream come true,” said Gray.
“It feels like the ideal time to take this next step, with renewed ambition and exciting plans in the team’s pipeline.”
Gray was one of seven players in Jamaica’s starting lineup for the quarterfinal win against Guatemala who compete in the English league; six more were included in Heimir Hallgrimsson’s 23-man roster. Gray placed second in a group that was won by the USA.
The most prominent of them is Michail Antonio, a striker for West Ham.
Leon Bailey of Aston Villa, Bobby Decordova-Reid of Fulham, and Joel Latibeaudiere of Swansea are all present. In 2017, Latibeaudiere led the England Under-17 World Cup team, which included his former Manchester City teammate Phil Foden, to victory in India. Amari’i Bell of Luton scored the winning goal in the quarterfinal.
Players like Ivan Toney, Max Aarons, Nathan Ferguson, and Rico Henry have previously been mentioned as possible call-ups.
Andre Blake, the team captain and a Philadelphia Union veteran who has played his entire senior club career in Major League Soccer, remarked, “I have always said it is not the best players, it is the right players.”
“Occasionally I lose sight of how young this team is. A solid team takes time to assemble, and this one is just getting started.
The fact that Mexico named a quality team does not enhance Jamaica’s prospects of winning against ‘El Tri’. In contrast, the defending champions United States, who will face Panama in the other semifinal and required a late goal to tie Jamaica in their first group match, have not included many of their senior players who are living in Europe.
Jamaica has a day less to prepare and has traveled longer than Mexico to get to Las Vegas.
They approach this test with confidence even if their main recruitment goal is to qualify for the 2026 World Cup in North America.
“We know we have a good squad with good players that can do good things,” said Hallgrimsson, who led Jamaica to the World Cup in 2017 and led his native Iceland to the 2018 World Cup.
This group is developing.
“While 2026 is our target year, success would be nice even today. We aim to prevail in this competition.
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