Football

Foden took home the Players' Player of the Year award for the first time, while Palmer was named the Young Player of the Year.

The women's Players' Player of the Year honour went to Shaw, with the Young Player of the Year award copped by Grace Clinton.

Two-time Young Player winner Foden had already been announced as the Premier League Player of the Season and the FWA Footballer of the Year.

Following the midweek ceremony, he has now also been recognised by his fellow professionals after starring in Manchester City's fourth straight title triumph.

Ex-City man Palmer had likewise been nominated for the top award after an outstanding first season at Chelsea, in which he netted 22 league goals.

However, Palmer was not included in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year.

Foden made the cut alongside City team-mate Erling Haaland and Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins in attack.

There were four City players included, with Kyle Walker and Rodri selected, but the champions were outnumbered by Arsenal's five representatives.

David Raya, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard earned recognition, with Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk completing the XI.

The PFA WSL Team of the Year included both Players' Player of the Year Shaw and Young Player of the Year Clinton.

Shaw was one of six City stars in the XI despite her side being pipped to the title by Chelsea, who could count only three players in the team.

The former Schalke player is coming towards the end of his fourth year at Manchester City.

He looked set for a switch to Bayern last year before suffering a major knee ligament injury in the Community Shield against Liverpool in August.

Having battled his way back to fitness, Bayern are again looking set for an attempt to land the 24-year-old.

Former Bayern defender Willy Sagnol says his old club would be better off chasing Bayer Leverkusen's 20-year-old rising star Kai Havertz, however, claiming Sane simply does not fit the bill.

"He doesn't match up at all to Bayern, in terms of character. He's an inconsistent player, who is very withdrawn," Sagnol told French radio station RMC.

"For me, he isn't made for this club.

"He's got lots of problems, at Manchester City and with the national team. We've said that he'd cost €80million. At a pinch, I'd prefer to put down €20m more and buy Havertz to be happy.

"With Havertz, it's the guarantee of a playmaker that you could play with Lewandowski without a problem. [Thomas] Muller won't last forever."

Former Bayern president Uli Hoeness said on Saturday he hoped the club could sign Havertz as well as Sane, but he cast doubt on whether financial realities would allow for that.

“I personally want us to go beyond the first round,” said Ricketts when speaking to SportsMax.TV.

It will be a tough task for the girls who were drawn in Group F alongside powerhouses France and Brazil as well as either Chinese Taipei, Panama, Papua New Guinea or Paraguay. They kick-off their World Cup campaign against the French in Sydney on July 23.

Jamaica will host the Paraguayans for two friendlies in Montego Bay on Thursday and Kingston on Sunday. Ricketts says these games are designed to prepare the girls for the type of opposition they will have to overcome if they are to make noise in Australia and New Zealand.

“We play two games against Paraguay. One in Montego Bay and one in Kingston. It’s a part of our preparation process,” he said.

“We just want some good results. It’s not all about winning but the coaches certainly want to establish a philosophy and a style of play that would make them competitive when they go to the World Cup,” he added.

Ricketts also said that we can expect more friendlies to be scheduled for the girls in the new year.

“We will have discussions with the coaches when we get to Montego Bay just to get an idea of exactly who they would want to play or which teams they would want to engage and then we’ll be having discussions with teams coming up for the February FIFA window.”

The Catherine Hall Sports Complex will play host to the first Paraguay friendly at 8:00pm local time while the second game kicks off at 6:00pm on Sunday at the National Stadium.

It may seem far-fetched given the fact that she has more experienced counterparts Rebecca Spencer and Sydney Schneider to contend with, but much like Schneider rose to prominence during the Girlz World Cup debut in France 2019, the American-born Brooks knows it is by no means impossible.

In France, Schneider, then a 19-year-old rookie, pulled off a stunning penalty save in the Reggae Girlz opening game against Brazil, though they inevitably lost 0-3.

Brooks, 18, is yearning for a big break like that when the Girlz do battle in Group F against France, Brazil and Panama at the July 20 to August 20 World Cup, but until then, she is focused on putting in the necessary work to continue impressing Head coach Lorne Donaldson and his assistants.

"Of course, there’s a competition, and I'll certainly fight for that spot in the starting team which would mean a whole lot to me at this point in my career, but I just want what is best for the team. So even if I wasn’t the one, then that’s ok," Brooks told SportsMax.tv from her base in the United States. 

"I just have to put in the work. Plain and simple and I’ll do that without hesitancy, especially going to college now, I know that will no doubt take my fitness and lifestyle to another level, and I can’t wait for that as well," she added.

Though she is still basking in the fact that she was selected in Donaldson's final squad, Brooks, who earns her Island stripes through her mother Tandi Nelson-Brooks, revealed that celebrations will be low-key, as she braces for her freshman year at Washington State University.

"It’s a great feeling being selected for my first World Cup. There’s nothing like it, because it is the highest stage of competition in both the men and women’s game, so of course it’s a very big achievement. 

"Unfortunately, there are no real celebrations. I’m off to college so an eight-hour car ride is all the celebration I’ll be doing, but I’ll be happy to celebrate a little with my new teammates, who I'm sure are just as happy as I am," she shared.

Still, the sense of pride and accomplishment Brooks feels cannot be understated having successfully transitioned from Under-17 and Under-20 representation, where she showed immense ability, which caught the senior Reggae Girlz coach staff's attention since their historic tour of South Korea late last year.

"It’s extremely massive. It puts my name on the international map at the senior level at an early stage, but for me it just makes me hungrier to strive for more than a spot on the roster next time," Brooks declared. 

"I want to play and being around the senior players have shown me that there is always work to be done, but I’ll learn from those around me and use my own experiences along the way to get there. The aim is always to push as hard as possible and to be a better player and these experiences will help me to improve," she noted.

That said, the tall and agile goalkeeper admitted that the initial stages of her transition were nerve-wracking and did indeed test her mettle but credited her more senior counterparts for their guidance in ensuring she held firm.

"It definitely wasn’t easy and still isn’t. The team itself is great and very welcoming, but I personally struggle with my own confidence and that’s what can bring down my performance at times. The team recognized that and encouraged me instead," she explained.

"Becky [Spencer] and Syd [Schneider] are amazing. They are excellent players and even better people. Alyssa [Whitehead], our goalkeeper coach, is as well. All three of them inspire me and push me to be a better player whether they know it or not. That made it really fun, and they got me through even my physically tough training," Brooks ended.

According to a January 27, 2024 New York Times article, these rulings “cast doubt on the legal basis for a host of prosecutions” surrounding those involved in scandals coming out of the December 2015 raids on FIFA officials in Zurich, Switzerland.

In June 2011, Warner, who was then provisionally suspended by the world football governing body for alleged corruption, resigned from all his international football posts. Warner was one of 14 top FIFA officials and corporate executives to be accused of corruption, fraud and money laundering while he was FIFA vice-president.

Warner was later indicted in 29 charges of corruption in the US in 2015. Extradition proceedings against him remain on hold.

In an interview with i95.5FM last Thursday, Warner said the court’s ruling to toss the convictions of an ex-21st Century Fox executive and sports marketing company on corruption charges in a case involving FIFA has him feeling relieved.

That September case, according to the New York Times, is one in which “the two defendants benefited from two recent Supreme Court rulings that had rejected federal prosecutors’ application of the law at play in the soccer cases and offered rare guidance on what is known as honest services fraud.

“The defendants in the soccer trial had been found to have engaged in bribery that deprived organizations outside the US of their employees’ honest services, which constituted fraud at the time. But the judge ruled that the court’s new guidance meant that those actions were no longer prohibited under American law.”

On this decision, Warner declared his agreement.

“I am in firm agreement with the US Supreme Court statement on the matter. I always knew the US were wrong to attack and destroy FIFA and destroy people’s lives just because they didn’t get a World Cup venue,” Warner said, referring to the US' failed 2022 World Cup bid.

That World Cup bid was won by Qatar, but several FIFA officials, including Warner, were accused of accepting bribes.

“It is utterly ridiculous for people to be imprisoned and to be charged for being a member of a private organisation as FIFA, and to be charged by the US government on what they did or did not do during their stay in FIFA,” Warner argued.

“I am feeling relieved. My life has been destroyed, my family’s life has been destroyed and I have spent tonnes of money on this matter. All I did was to tell FIFA that it is time to change the paradigm of giving the World Cup to Europe and South America. I said to them, ‘just go to the Middle East’.

“It is this that has caused me to be where I am today. The irony is that people in the Middle East, thanks to my efforts and others, Qatar (which hosted the World Cup in 2022) has produced one of the best World Cups this world has ever seen. So, I feel vindicated in a sense for what I have done, but the price that I have paid for that is overbearing,” he added.

In a letter dated March 17, 2020, FIFA notified the TTFA that it was appointing a normalization committee to oversee the running of the association until such time there is an election to have an election to elect a new executive.

FIFA’s reasoned that the takeover of the heavily indebted TTFA was necessary due to the fact that there were “no formal internal policies and internal controls in place, such as procurement, the delegation of financial authorities, financial planning and budgeting, effective oversight of funding and management reporting, which are necessary to meet the TTFA’s objectives.”

FIFA also said there is a lack of documented policies and procedures, financial planning and management of statutory liabilities adding that there no short or long-term plan to address the “urgent” situation.

The TTFA is over USD$5million in debt, much of it from the David John-Williams administration that was ousted in the TTFA elections held in November 2019.

The new administration led by William Wallace was in power for four months when FIFA decided to take over its operations.

However, Yorke, who played for Trinidad and Tobago at a time when they were the top team in the Caribbean while speaking with Andre Baptiste on Isports on i95.5fm Programme on Saturday,  backed FIFA, saying the country’s football was at stake.

"When it comes to football, things have to change. We have tried all aspects of it before. We know how successful we have been in 2006. I think football has been in decline for a number of years. I think this is the right move and we all have to get back and focus and maybe think about the youth," said Yorke, who also urged aspiring professional footballers in Trinidad to pursue their dreams.

"The youths are the future of the football and I call on all the footballers out there who are aspiring to represent their country, to continue to work hard because it is the only way forward and they must have that belief and hopefully, our country will one day find its way back on the world stage again.”

Yorke also expressed a desire to play a part in the development of the country’s football.

"I have always been (interested), I have never shied away from that I have always wanted to play an intricate part in whatever way it's possible,” he said.

“I can help the young people of T&T as I have said before. I have a lot of knowledge and experience over the years and I feel that I can contribute a lot to T&T’s football, hopefully."

The ousted executive of the TTFA has taken the matter before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) seeking for them to set aside the FIFA decision.

“I don’t anticipate, despite the political strength of the Caribbean nations within CONCACAF, another CONCACAF president from the Caribbean or the CFU for quite some time,” Hislop said during the Caribbean Conference on Corruption, Compliance and Cyber Crime held virtually last week.

“You have two presidents back-to-back, both black men from the Caribbean, both swept up in that scandal and, as a result, I think regionally there was a lack of trust around Caribbean administrators,” he added.

Canadian businessman Victor Montagliani has been CONCACAF president since May 2016.

Trinidad’s Warner served as CONCACAF President from 1990-2011. He was indicted on fraud charges and banned from all football-related activities by FIFA for life in 2015.

US prosecutors allege that from as far back as 1990, he leveraged his influence and exploited his official positions for personal gain.

Among other things, the 79-year-old former football administrator is accused of receiving US$5 million in bribes to vote for Russia to host the 2018 World Cup. 

In November this year, Warner lost his fight at the Privy Council against extradition to the United States on corruption charges.

Webb, a Caymanian, took the reins as head of CONCACAF from 2012-2015. 

In May 2015, Webb was arrested for corruption charges by Swiss police acting at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice on charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. That same month he was banned by FIFA Ethics Committee and ,in November 2015, pleaded guilty and agreed to forfeit more than US$6.7 million.

“We are living that legacy; We are still hoping that people take notice of the Caribbean. We are not able to advocate for ourselves and, for me, that is a desperate position for us to be in but that is the position that we have found ourselves in because of the legacies of those two people,” Hislop said.

Hislop, who was born in London and represented clubs like Newcastle United and West Ham United throughout his 15-year career, said he hopes some good comes out of the situation.

“Longer term, I hope that what has happened forces change, not just in Caribbean or Concacaf football, but in world football. Recognizing how easily the system can be perverted and how you need to have those checks and balances to better serve the global game.”

So, while he gears up for another challenging and demanding campaign, Eve is confident in the depth of his player pool, which he expects to showcase their competitiveness and possibly rewrite the history books.

Much like it was against United States, when the Soca Warriors came away 2-1 winners, Eve knows their CONMEBOL Copa America playoff contest against Canada will be tough, but he remains optimistic about his team's ability to overcome the stiff competition on March 23, and qualify for the prestigious Copa America tournament.

“Like the US team, the Canada team is built up the same, (with) a lot of European-based players. Some of the players (are) playing in the MLS (Major League Soccer), some playing back home, but most of the players are playing in Europe and they are playing with good teams,” Eve assessed.

“But we think we can go in there; we think we can compete with anyone right now and we want to show that. We want to show that confidence that we could go out on the park and compete with anyone,” he added.

Eve incorporated new players into his training squad for a recently-concluded four-day camp, which could be a move to bring a fresh dynamic to their gameplay. Still, he believes that with the right application, the team will compete strongly against Canada and, by extension, in the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers, which promises to be both demanding and exciting.

“We just have to be tactically aware. A coach can only give instructions. When the players go out there, they have to have the mindset to play the position, to play the role that the coaches give them to the best of their ability because, a coach could never tell a player what to do for every second of every minute of a game,” he reasoned.

The Soca Warriors will have two practice games against Jamaica early next month, ahead of the Copa America qualifier against Canada. The Reggae Boyz trip to Trinidad follows the Soca Warriors tour of Jamaica last year for two friendly matches.

“They promised to return that favour to us, so these two games are supposed to be in early March. We will use those games as the final two warm-up games going into the CONMEBOL playoff match and when that happens, then we will pick that final squad,” Eve declared.

He also welcomed the fact that two players –Reon Moore of Defence Force and Real Gill of Club Sando –have been signed to play overseas in the Canadian Premier League and United Soccer League, respectively.

This, the tactician believes is another step in the right direction to not only assist in the players preparations for the challenges ahead, but more importantly, for football in the twin island republic.

“It shows that the work that we are doing (is good) and people are identifying players again, because we (once) had the same set of players getting contracts all the time. This is a new batch of players who are getting contracts, and I could tell you, when people see them playing with the national team, that is how they get that sort of exposure,” Eve shared.

“It shows that people are watching us again and watching our players and that augurs well for the country and for the team on a whole,” he ended.

The Americans sprinted out to a 2-0 lead through goals from Sophia Smith in the fifth and eighth minutes before adding three more goals in the second half through Rose Lavelle (59^th), Kristie Mewis (83^rd) and Trinity Rodman (86^th) to complete the 5-0 demolition at the Estadio BBVA Bancomer.

“I didn’t think it’d take 10 minutes. We gave up two goals in six minutes and you’re not going to play the World Champs and expect anything out of the game playing the way we did. We weren’t good,” Donaldson said in a post-match press conference.

“The Americans are the best team in the world. When you play the champions at the top of their game, bad things will happen if you don’t play well and we didn’t,” Donaldson added.

The Reggae Girlz are now third in Group A with three points after two games with their third and final preliminary encounter coming against Haiti on Monday.

The Haitians also have three points and will go into that game with supreme confidence after a convincing 3-0 win over Mexico on Thursday.

The winner of Monday’s match will join the USA as automatic qualifiers to next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand while the loser will most likely have to book their spot through an inter-continental playoff.

“I think we’re going to be fine and ready,” Donaldson said.

The Manchester City striker was in fine form in Monday’s game, scoring a brace to help her side to a dominant 4-0 victory over the Haitians to secure a second consecutive World Cup berth.

“It means a lot, especially because throughout the beginning of the campaign we came under a lot of pressure. We just stood together and held our composure,” said Shaw.

“We knew that once we did that, at the end of the day we were going to be victorious and, I think, it just goes to show that we’re a small island, but we can do big things,” Shaw added.

Despite already booking their spot in Australia and New Zealand next year, their CONCACAF Women’s Championship campaign is not over with a semi-final against Canada on Thursday at 9:00pm Jamaica time (10:00pm EST). Defending world champions the USA will tackle Costa Rica in the other semi-final. 

Shaw outlined how the team can overcome the challenge of the unbeaten Canadians.

“We need to remain confident and stay positive. We also have to continue to support each other and communicate. If we continue to stick together and stay confident, I’m sure we can do big things,” Shaw said.

In fact, Head coach Lorne Donaldson would readily declare that the possibility of his Reggae Girlz achieving the feat is by no means impossible. Still, he is under no illusion that defeating or merely taking points off the new-look, young and formidable Brazil outfit, as well as the well-organised and experienced France team, will be easy.

While their just-concluded camp in Amsterdam inspires confidence, as it assisted in fine-tuning certain technical and tactical aspects, Donaldson admits that the team is still not yet where he wants them to be with the July 20 to August 20 global showpiece in Australia and New Zealand, now nine days away.

“The camp was good; I wish we had a game which would have been the true test, but it was good, nonetheless. The players worked hard, and they seem very focused, but we're not there yet.

“We still have a few more days to go, so we start working on some of the tactical stuff and I the players are going in with a sense of purpose because they know what's at stake,” Donaldson told Sportsmax.tv shortly after arriving in Australia on Monday.

Since the start of their build up to the World Cup, Donaldson has stressed the importance of holding a tight defensive line, being very well organised and more effective when in possession, if they want to be competitive.

The 43^rd-ranked Reggae Girlz will open Group F play on July 23 against the number five-ranked Les Bleues, which is now the centre of their focus.

“I think France is playing a game (against Australia on Friday), so we might get a look at what their starting squad is like and just see exactly how we want to approach the game and how we want to match up against them and just go from there. If we want to be competitive, we will need to defend, and be very well organised and when we have possession, we would like to be more effective,” Donaldson shared.

“So, we still have some tactical stuff to look at and work on. I think our players know that they have to show up and be ready to perform so that makes life a little bit easier sometimes, but yes, we have to hold them accountable for certain things especially tactical mistakes,” he added.

After France, the Girlz will then tackle 52^nd-ranked Panama on July 29, before closing against 8^th-ranked Brazil on August 2.

However, before all of that, they will engage on final preparation game against Morocco which Donaldson believes will serve them well to lock in their plan towards efficient execution Down Under.

“We will use that game to try some things, we will give as much players as possible some minutes because the aim is to improve the work that we're doing, and we saw some stuff that we need to clean up. So, we will use this game to do that and then look at some tape with the players to see how much more we can brush up on our execution,” the coach noted.

That said, Donaldson, who was an assistant to Hue Menzies when the Girlz were hammered 0-3, 0-5 and 1-4 by Brazil, Italy and Australia on their World Cup debut in France in 2019, said they have no intentions of going out in that manner on this occasion.

“We expect to do well and get something out of the tournament,” he declared.

“We are not going to come here to the World Cup to lay down, we are going to push to get some success. We are planning to get out of the group, whichever way we have to get it done, we intend to get it done. So, it's just a matter of how well we execute when it comes to the big day,” Donaldson ended.

Earlier this week, JFF president, Michael Ricketts, and his general secretary, Dalton Wint, indicated anger at comments the player made suggesting the organization would be at fault if the Reggae Boyz were not at the next World Cup in Qatar.

The JFF was also displeased with Bailey’s criticism of Reggae Boyz coach, Theodore Whitmore.

Bailey had suggested that Whitmore’s squad rotation policy was counterproductive and didn’t engender the building of chemistry among players.

According to Butler, Bailey’s comments were made to a friend talking to him about his life, suggesting that the player was free to have an opinion in his private capacity.

Both Wint and Ricketts had suggested that there were contractual obligations that the player had that would make his comments out of order but Butler has refuted this as well, saying while Bailey has been playing for Jamaica, there is no contract between him and the JFF.

Wint had said he would be issuing a cease and desist order on the player in a bid to show the JFF would not be tolerating that kind of behaviour but Butler has said the organization has no legal standing to issue such an order given that the two entities have no contract.

“We as the management of Leon Bailey had sought a contractual agreement with the Jamaica Football Federation with the player. In this way, the player would be entitled to know what is and is not expected or allowed by the JFF and our client would be also aware of what to expect as compensation for his services.

“To date, our client has not been provided a contract to agree or not agree to,” read a statement from Phoenix Sports Management on Butler’s Facebook page.

“Article 3 of the Fifa statutes address the right to freedom of speech and also the responsibility of officials to ensure that freedom of speech and expression is not compromised,” read the statement.

Butler also went on to say Bailey’s statements were right on the money with the JFF being directly responsible for the success or failure of its senior unit given that it was in charge of team selection.

“He [Bailey] lay the responsibility for success or failure directly at the feet of those ultimately responsible for selection, team management and business negotiations. The Jamaica Football Federation

There can be no Authority without Responsibility,” the statement read.

“Nothing in Bailey's verbiage was libellous or inaccurate,” it went on.

Butler went on to speak about player compensation, placing the blame, at least in part, for an injury Bailey suffered because of the lack of payment.

“Our client has had to pay his own airfare to games. Our client suffered a hamstring injury which was clearly contributed to by having to fly 13 hours with several stops in economy and then asked to train the very next day,” Butler’s statement read.

According to Bailey’s management team, issues like the one mentioned in the statement are just some of the facts Bailey could have revealed but chose not to, even though it is his right.

“Our client has to date not been compensated even one penny by the JFF after promising to pay the players after the last game. Our client had not exposed this to the public or that this was an across the board situation of mismanagement by the JFF.

Our client could have said many things yet he decided against doing anything other than put things in true perspective.”

According to Phoenix Management, Bailey has spoken out about poor treatment in his capacity as a club player but faced no sanctions by the club because it was seen as his right. The same, he said, has been true of others in the JFF hierarchy, who have faced no sanctions.

“Carvel Stewart president of HARBOUR VIEW FC RECENTLY made some scathing remarks regarding the JFF and its leadership and protocols. Yet we haven’t heard of any sanctioning of this a JFF board member in a leadership capacity,” read the statement.

According to Phoenix management, Bailey’s statements are correct and it stands behind them.

But the management team went even further, suggesting Bailey would stop playing for the national team if it were proven that any of his statements were untrue.

“Should it be in the best interest of football, Leon has no problems taking time off international football if his countrymen and teammates believe his statements are untrue.

He has to travel long distances to come back to Jamaica from Europe to train and perform for his country. If the country does not want him, then we will consider our options for him during international breaks to be to work on his attributes and skills.”

On the back of a Jamaica Premier League season that saw him score 13 goals in 18 appearances, the 32-year-old has been included in Head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson’s squad for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against The Dominican Republic and Dominica.

The team will host Dom Rep on June 6 before facing Dominica away three days later.

“It feels good to be in camp with the boys for these big games. It’s where I’ve always wanted to be,” Reid said in an interview on Monday.

“I feel excited because it is a dream for me to play in World Cup Qualifying and being my country to the World Cup,” he added.

Reid made seven appearances for the Reggae Boyz from 2017-2018, scoring three goals. All those appearances came in friendlies.

After six years out of the mix, he made his return to the Reggae Boyz squad in a pair of friendlies against the Soca Warriors at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in March, providing the assist for Kaheim Dixon’s game-winning goal in the first encounter.

“To be back is nice. We did a good job in the away games against Trinidad. If we can take it a game at a time it would be good for us,” Reid said before reiterating the importance of the upcoming games.

“This is a big one so we have to get it together because we really want to qualify. I think this is the right time now because, like I said, I’ve always dreamed to bring Jamaica to the World Cup. Now we have the chance to deliver for the country,” he added.

McClaren was announced as the new Head Coach of the Jamaica Men’s Senior National team last week, replacing former head man Heimir Hallgrimsson, who has since taken up the position of Head Coach of Ireland.

The 63-year-old, who has 35 years of managerial experience with clubs like Middlesbrough, FC Twente with whom he won the Dutch Eredivisie in 2009-2010, Newcastle United and Manchester United who he left to take up this job.

The Fulford-born McClaren also has experience at the international level, serving in the roles of coach and assistant manager for England from 2000-2007.

He has signed on as Head Coach for Jamaica for the next 18 months, with his main objective being to lead the Caribbean Island nation to the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be hosted jointly by the USA, Canada and Mexico. Jamaica’s only previous trip to a World Cup was back in 1998.

“The moment I got on the plane to come over yesterday, through the airport, at the hotel and coming to meet the staff this morning, I’ve had a real warm welcome and a really good feeling about coming here and taking this job with the vision of the World Cup in 2026,” McClaren said at Thursday’s press conference.

McClaren first became aware of Jamaica during his stint as a technical expert for FIFA analyzing the FIFA ecosystem.

“I always knew that this country had unbelievable potential and talent because I was technical expert for FIFA for two years working on the ecosystem which really analyzed every country in the world. We analyzed 210 countries. I analyzed about 20 of which Jamaica was one of them,” he said.

“After doing the analysis and the report three years ago, Jamaica has always been in the back of my mind because it was the one country in which the potential and talent is here and there is such a lot to do. What I’ve seen over the last two years is unbelievable development. It’s my job now to take the baton and carry that on,” McClaren added.

One of the main questions posed to McClaren during Thursday’s proceeding was the fact that he left a club like Manchester United to come and coach Jamaica, a third world country.

McClaren insists that resources are not the main drivers to success of national teams.

“It’s not about resources. It’s about people, it’s about behaviors and it’s about standards. They are the three main things that will be targeted. We might not have the greatest resources but it’s the people, commitment, standards and behaviours that will make the difference that we are all here to work towards,” he said.

President of the JFF, Michael Ricketts, is excited for the future of the National Team under McClaren’s leadership.

“When you think of Mr. McClaren’s achievements as a coach, it gives us reason to feel extremely optimistic. The big picture here is the 2026 World Cup and coach will be charged with getting us there,” he said.

Chairman of the JFF Technical Committee, Rudolph Speid, commented about the process of hiring McClaren.

“We got people from all over the world but at the end of the day it was always going to be one coach. He literally ticked all the boxes,” he said.

“It was a no-brainer to choose him,” he added.

McClaren’s first assignment will be a CONCACAF Nations League clash with Cuba on September 6.

The 55-year-old former professional footballer was appointed as the head man for Jamaica in September last year after a four-year stint at Qatari club Al-Arabi from 2018-2021.

Before that, Hallgrimsson was a member of the coaching staff of his native Iceland from 2013-2018.

He was initially appointed as assistant coach to Lars Lagerback before being promoted to joint-head coach after the 2014 World Cup.

Hallgrimsson and Lagerback oversaw the most successful period in the country’s football history including a quarter-final berth at Euro 2016. He officially took over as head coach when Lagerback left to coach Norway after Euro 2016.

“The experience has been good,” stated Hallgrimsson to Sportsmax.TV at the JFF’s official Adidas kit launch at their headquarters on Tuesday about his first few months coaching the Reggae Boyz.

“There are a lot of things I need to learn first before I can really change things. It takes time. You’ll never know everything but it’s better to do the work in the beginning than to slowly learn,” added Hallgrimsson.

He says his focus, as of late, has been to try to learn about Jamaica’s football culture.

“I’ve been doing this. The first two camps I had in January were to get to know the players and the ones that were recommended or played before,” he said.

“In February, I’ve been focusing on the domestic league and domestic players, trying to learn the football culture in Jamaica, watching training sessions, talking to coaches and owners. Maybe, in one week, I will need to start to watch the players playing abroad because it takes a lot of time to do as well,” he added.

When questioned about immediate plans for the Reggae Boyz, Hallgrimsson mentioned that the next few games will give him and his staff an opportunity to see as many players play as possible.

“We play in Trinidad and Tobago on the 11^th and the 14^th of March. That is good preparation and I think that match will feature players from the domestic league. Then we have the game in Mexico at the end of March and there, we will have the ability to bring in all the players that we want because that’s a FIFA window. We then have a game against Guatemala in early April where we can, hopefully, get some of the players in the US that were not in the Mexico squad.”

“The purpose of all this is to try give as many players as possible a chance to play so we can have the best squad possible in the Gold Cup this summer.”

The 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup is scheduled for June 24-July 16 in California.

The Reggae Boyz were beaten 0-1 by the USA in the quarter-finals at the 2021 edition.

The 19-year-old London-born midfielder, in an interview with JFF Live on YouTube, described the experience of finding out he’d been called up to the squad.

“It’s something I can’t really describe honestly. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and now that I’m here, it’s unbelievable,” Anderson said.

“At first, I couldn’t really believe it because I knew I was in the provisional squad but when I got the news I was just shocked. I was staring for a long time trying to take it all in and I told my mom and she started crying,” he added.

Anderson qualifies to play for the Reggae Boyz through his mother who was born in Clarendon and his grandmother who was born in Trelawny.

“I’m very busy,” was Anderson’s response to what fans can expect from his play style.

“I get around a lot and I like going forward and defending so I just try to do everything,” he said.

Anderson’s club teammate Michael Hector will also make a return to the Reggae Boyz set up after a two-year absence and he says the defender has been instrumental to his development as a player.

“It’s good because when I made the step up I knew he played for Jamaica and that was something that I looked to do so, being able to play with him, also with his experience in club football, is good. He’s a good person to look up to as well,” Anderson said.

Finally, the midfielder had nothing but good things to say about his experience with the squad, so far, as well as their chances in the upcoming games.

“Everyone’s nice. It’s a good energy around so I’m looking forward to getting involved with the games,” he said.

“When you look at the squad we have, we know we’ve got enough quality to win these games so I just want to come in and add to that and see what areas I can help in,” Anderson added.

Jamaica will first take on Grenada on Thursday before facing Haiti on Sunday.

They currently lead their CONCACAF Nations League A group with four points.

The Reggae Boyz took the lead in the seventh minute through a spectacular right-footed volley from outside the box by Fulham midfielder Bobby Reid.

Mexico capitalised on a defensive lapse by the Jamaicans to make in 1-1 10 minutes later before the away team, once again, took the lead when Edson Alvarez scored an own-goal in the 32^nd minute.

Napoli star Hirving Lozano then converted a 47^th minute penalty to complete the scoring on the day with both teams settling for a 2-2 draw.

“It is a difficult place to come,” said Hallgrimsson to reporters after the game.

“They are one of the powerhouses in CONCACAF so we knew it was going to be a difficult match. I think we did some good things but we are starting a journey together,” he added.

While acknowledging that the team has a lot of improvements to make, the Iceland native was encouraged by the fact that the team can get something out of a game in hostile territory.

“I know we need to improve a lot of things still but, the good thing about this game for us is that it shows even though we go away and play in a difficult stadium like the Azteca, we can still get something from the game,” he said.

That was before goals from Jamie Vardy and Reggae Boyz midfielder Bobby De Cordova-Reid in the dying moments of the game ensured a sharing of the points between the clubs.

Brighton took the lead eight minutes before halftime through a brilliant left-footed strike from just outside the area from full back Tariq Lamptey.

They went 2-0 up when Yankuba Minteh scored in the 79^th minute with a well-placed left footed strike from inside the box.

As the commentators believed that goal finished Leicester off, most importantly, the player didn’t, continuing to press forward to try and get back into the game.

That pressure paid off in the 86^th minute when captain Jamie Vardy scored a typical opportunistic goal from close range to make it 2-1, sending the crown at the King Power Stadium into loud cheers.

The equalizer they were looking for finally came in stoppage time when Reid latched on to a pass from Vardy to slot home his first goal for the club and secure the point.

“I’m feeling really good right now. It’s obviously nice coming from 2-0 down and the manner in which we did it was good,” said Reid in a post-match interview on the club’s YouTube channel.

“Manic,” was how Reid described the last five minutes of the game before going on to credit his side’s never give up attitude.

“We never gave up so I’m pleased with it,” he said.

“We continued to press and continued to do the right things. Stephy (Mavididi) did well to win the ball back and have the composure to find Jamie (Vardy) who had the composure to find me and it was a perfect goal for us,” he added.

The 31-year-old Reid now has 21 Premier League goals to his name in 139 appearances across five seasons.

As for Leicester, they remain 16^th in the league table with 14 points from 15 games, five points clear of the relegation zone.

The Reggae Boyz will be looking for revenge over their American counterparts after suffering defeat to them at the semi-final stage of last season’s Nations League 1-3 in extra time. The USA went on to win the whole thing with a 2-0 victory over Mexico in the final while the Reggae Boyz beat Panama 1-0 to claim third place.

If the Boyz are to get over the hump this time around, Chung understands that a massive part of it will be the energy they receive from the thousands of Jamaican fans in attendance.

“We are at the quarterfinal stage. We want to ensure that we are there in our numbers supporting the Boyz because we have to make it past the mighty USA which, after we finish with them, they won’t be so mighty,” Chung said in press conference on Monday.

As such, three support groups for Jamaican football-Reggae Boyz Supporters Club, Reggae Football Fans Club and Reggae Boyz Community, are all making it possible for fans from all over the diaspora to have an opportunity to cheer on the Reggae Boyz live and in person.

“We want to welcome this partnership because this is a way for us now to reach our fanbase. We want to ensure that everyone is involved. At the last two games we had over 17,000 people in attendance and that, for us, is very important. It’s not just about playing football. It’s about getting everybody involved,” Chung said on Monday.

Errol Walters and Louis Grant, members of the Reggae Football Fans Club, were also on hand on Monday and gave an overview of this initiative.

“It’s an honor and a pleasure to be serving our country in this way. What we’re trying to do is create an opportunity for fans in the diaspora that we use our collective bargaining power to negotiate to go to the games,” Walters said.

“There are times when I’m in London and want to go to a game and I have no one to travel with so it was always my dream to create a database to say listen, who’s going to the game from where,” Walters added.

Grant explained that this idea came about because of the desire of members of the diaspora to be a driving force behind the support of the team on their journey to the World Cup in 2026.

“This was birthed out a desire to be the proverbial 12^th man for our football teams and more so for the second iteration of the historic trip to the World Cup. We, as members of the diaspora here in the United States, think it’s only right that we play our part in drumming up support as far as leveraging air travel, accommodation, and support,”

“For example, we’ve been in touch with US Soccer with regards to the game in St. Louis. We’ve gotten a section that we can have all or most of our supporters concentrated to create that ‘Office’ vibe,”

“In my experience, we’ve gone to games in my area and you’d see our supporters and our flag sparsely across the various stadiums and we are of the opinion that if we were more concentrated in one section, it bodes well or it is a better look and feel for our team,” he added.

The game was delayed a little over two hours due to inclement weather, but it had no effect on the explosiveness and pressure both Costa Rica and Jamaica showed within the first few seconds of the match. Neither side wasted any time in starting to look for a goal.

For the first 15 minutes, it was an intense back and forth with some dangerous shots close to the goal that had the fans on edge, but no goals were scored.

The Costa Rica goal was under attack from the Jamaicans during the final minutes of the opening half, but Costa Rica GK Leonel Moreira denied Jamaica from opening the scoring.

It was the same story into the second half, with Jamaica probing for a goal, and in the 51’, Jamaica forward Andre Gray blasted a shot straight onto the post.

Costa Rica answered almost immediately with a play that started with a slide tackle win for the Ticos and a flawless pass from  Ariel Lassiter into the box that found Costa Rican captain Bryan Ruiz heading into the back of the net to make it 1-0 to Costa Rica in the 53rd.

Things got complicated for the Ticos in the 72nd when Moreira got a straight red card for a handball outside the box, leaving Costa Rica with 10 men with at least 20 minutes left in the match.

The Reggae Boyz continued to attack and pressure in Costa Rica’s half looking to score again and again, but with no luck, leaving Costa Rica as the group winner.