Reggae Boyz holding midfielder Isaac Hayden is excited for another opportunity to represent Jamaica in the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifying preliminaries against St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
The England-born midfielder made his debut for the Reggae Boyz during the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals against the USA last November, playing the second half of the first leg on November 15 before playing all 90 minutes in the second leg four days later.
He described the experience as a “whirlwind.”
“It was a bit of a whirlwind for me. Obviously, getting the passport done as quickly as I did, managed to get myself in the squad. To come on at halftime in that game was amazing. The atmosphere was brilliant. I’ve played in a few good atmospheres but, for me, that one was quite special because of the debut and playing against a good US side,” Hayden said in an interview with JFF Live ahead of the St. Vincent games.
The 29-year-old Hayden was not in the squad for Jamaica’s most recent international assignment, a pair of friendlies against Trinidad & Tobago in February, with head coach Steve McClaren opting for a squad comprising of locally-based players.
Now back in the squad, Hayden expressed excitement to be around the group again.
“Fantastic. Just seeing everybody over the last 24 hours has been really good. It’s been something that I’ve been looking forward to since the last camp and looking forward to the two games coming up,” he said.
“Two more games for us as a group of staff and players to come together and progress and work on things that we want to work on. Hopefully, we’ll get two positive results and get through to qualify for the Gold Cup,” Hayden added.
It has been a tough season at club level for Hayden. He is currently at Championship club Portsmouth, who hi joined on January 10 on loan from Newcastle United.
He failed to make an appearance at Newcastle in the first half of the season after returning to the Magpies from a season-long loan at Queens Park Rangers.
He’s now made 11 appearances for Portsmouth, who 17th in the Championship on 42 points from 38 games, just four points outside of the relegation zone.
With that in mind, Hayden, who has also represented Arsenal and Hull City during his career, is just happy to be playing regularly again, also crediting Jamaica for giving him that opportunity.
“It’s been good for me to get back out again and get some games. Obviously, the first half of the season was really frustrating for me. Jamaica helped out massively in terms of giving me that mental break and ability to go out there and perform,” he said.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to another good club in Portsmouth and get some minutes and try to help them as much as I can from potentially being relegated which, hopefully, we won’t do,” he added.
The Reggae Boyz will take on St. Vincent & the Grenadines at Arnos Vale on Friday before hosting them at Sabina Park next Tuesday.
Photo courtesy of Our Today.