Reggae Boyz winger Leon Bailey in Concacaf Gold Cup action against United States. (Inset) Head Coach Heimir Hallgrimsson
Though his missed penalty saw the Reggae Boyz dropping points in their Concacaf Gold Cup opener against United States, winger Leon Bailey says it doesn't take away from the fact that he gave his best for the team.
With Jamaica up 1-0 in the first half of the game, Bailey could have doubled the lead but hit his 12-yard kick at a decent height for Matt Turner, in goal for United States to block. However, the Aston Villa man had a second bite at the cherry as the rebound came right into his path, but even then, he failed to capitalise with an empty net at his mercy.
The game ended 1-1 after Brandon Vazquez's 88th-minute strike, cancelled out Damion Lowe's 13th-minute goal at Soldier Field in Chicago.
While not using added pressure as an excuse, Bailey said critics have little idea of what it is like being a player of his calibre tasked with performing efficiently at all times.
"Do you know how much pressure I'm always under when I'm representing the national team? But that's no excuse for me because I've been in the game for too long now. I've been a professional for eight years. I'm used to pressure," Bailey said during a pre-game press conference on Tuesday.
The former Genk and Bayer Leverkusen player has often been heavily scrutinised for his style of play, as he tends to hog possession of the ball and oftentimes over dribbles, and, as a result, thwarts the team's progress in the process.
Still, Bailey, who made his Reggae Boyz debut in 2019 and has so far logged three goals and four assists in 19 games, rubbished those claims, while expressing his unwavering passion for leaving it all on the field.
"It has nothing to do with the way I play. If you watch how I play, you will see that I always try to do my best, I always work hard, and no matter what, I'll always give 110 per cent for my nation, and that will never stop," he declared.
"If that means I didn't perform well, then so be it. When I walk off the pitch I want to know that I gave my 110 and I did that against the US and nobody's ever going to take that away from me. Once my family is good, the team is good, we're all good, I'm good.
"I'm always going to be there for my teammates and so they're always there for me as well and that's what really matters. At the end of the day, football is a sport in that you win some, you lose some, you make mistakes, and you go again. That's just life and football," Bailey added.
The 25-year-old and the new-look Reggae Boyz team will be hoping to make amends when they take on leaders Trinidad and Tobago in their second Group A contest at City Park in St Louis, Missouri, this evening at 6:30 pm Jamaica time.
Meanwhile, United States and pointless newcomers St Kitts and Nevis, who went down 0-3 to the Soca Warriors in their open game, will do battle at 8:30 pm.
Reggae Boyz Head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, who is still hunting his first win since taking the reins, knows the importance of this fixture with their Caribbean rivals and, as such, is backing his team to come good.
"The second game is always important. A win for Trinidad would get them through. We know what we are facing; we need to get good results against them. We just want to go out there so we can have a good performance and hopefully a win. That's the only thing we are thinking about at this stage of the tournament," Hallgrimsson said.
In their most recent meeting on Jamaican soil, Trinidad and Tobago won 1-0 with the other contest ending in as a goalless stalemate.
“The Trinidad games we played in Jamaica, there was a lot of long balls, there was a lot of fight everywhere on the pitch; it was not played much on the ground, those matches. We kind of played the same style in those games. It wasn’t pretty to watch, so, hopefully, we can do better. When we have the ball, we can hopefully play better than we did in Jamaica," the Icelandic coach stated.
“We will not get anything for free. We will face hard tackles, a lot of balls to fight for — the first balls, the second balls, we have just been talking about that. We are growing as a unit, as a team, and the understanding between the players about the tactics is increasing as we play more games together. We will grow as a team,” he ended.
Sherdon Cowan is a five-time award-winning journalist with 10 years' experience covering sports.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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