Boyz land in Chile for Friendly clash
VINA DEL MAR, Chile — Portmore United’s Ricardo Morris and Exeter City’s Joel Grant are the latest additions to the Reggae Boyz squad scheduled to face Chile inside Estadio Sausalito tomorrow at 7:30 pm here (6:30 pm Jamaica time).
Morris, the left-sided player, was drafted into the squad as a late replacement for Cavalier Soccer Club’s Chevone Marsh, who is currently away in Finland on trial, while Grant was called up by Head Coach Winfried Schaefer to replace Simon Dawkins, who suffered some groin discomfort during Sunday’s Major League Soccer game against the LA Galaxy.
According to Team Manager Roy Simpson, both Marsh and Dawkins are expected to rejoin the Reggae Boyz during their four-day training camp in Florida beginning on Sunday.
Grant is likely to return to England, while it is understood that Schaefer wants to keep Morris in the pool of players for the Copa America Centenario.
Meanwhile, 12 of the 20 players in the squad to face Chile tomorrow arrived in the chilly South American country yesterday morning, with another seven slated to arrive this morning. The final player, Michael Hector, is set to join the group tomorrow morning.
Damano Solomon and his Portmore United teammate Michael Binns, along with Montego Bay’s Allan Ottey, Humble Lion’s Andrew Vanzie, and Harbour View’s Rosario Harriott, as well as New York Red Bull’s Kemar Lawrence left Jamaica on Tuesday afternoon and were joined in Miami by Morris.
Upon arrival in Santiago at 6:37 am following a seven-and-a-half-hour flight, Giles Barnes, the Houston Dynamo captain, Jermaine Taylor from Portland Timbers, DuWayne Kerr from Stjarnan, Je-Vaughn Watson from New England Revolution, and IFK Marieham’s Dever Orgill joined the group for a near two-hour bus ride from Santiago to Vina del Mar.
Wes Morgan of Barclays Premier League champions Leicester City, as well as Rodolph Austin and Andre Blake, make up the 23-man squad for the Copa, but they will not take part in tomorrow’s game. Morgan will join the group when it arrives in Chicago on Sunday, but Austin and Blake are slated for the training camp in Florida.
And even as the hosts gathered from Monday to prepare for the game at the 22,000-capacity venue, the dozen Boyz travelled to Everton’s training facility for a light training session which lasted just over an hour.
They are expected to return to the same facility today for their final workout, when they should be joined by Joel McAnuff, Clayton Donaldson, Ryan Thompson, Garath McCleary, Lee Williamson, Grant and Adrian Mariappa.
The
Jamaica Observer understands that all tickets have already been sold out for this match, which pits the 2015 Copa America winners and the FIFA third-ranked team against the Caribbean Cup champions.
Chile’s world-famous players — Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal, Claudio Bravo from Barcelona and Bayern Munich’s Arturo Vidal — have all been included in the squad, though it is not known if they will participate in the game. One player who is not expected to take part in the game is Celta Vigo’s Pablo Hernandez, who got injured yesterday.
Both teams are using tomorrow’s game as part of their preparations for the one-off Copa America Centenario, which is slated for the United States from June 3-26.
The Reggae Boyz are drawn in Group C alongside Uruguay, Mexico and Venezuela, while Chile are in Group D with Argentina, Panama and Bolivia.