Jamaica suffered a 3-1 defeat to Ecuador in their Copa America 2024 clash in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday, their second loss in as many games which means the Reggae Boyz will again be eliminated at the group stage of the tournament. The Jamaica Observer’s digital sports coordinator, Rachid Parchment, took in the action. Here are his player ratings for the game.

Jahmali Waite – 6/10 – Conceded three goals but wasn’t at fault for any of them. Was fine, overall.

Di’Shon Bernard – 5/10 – Not one of his better games. Lost too many tackles with Ecuadorian attackers.

Ethan Pinnock – 6.5/10 – Didn’t really put a foot wrong and was solid with his passes out of the area.

Joel Latibeaudiere – 5.5/10 – Like Pinnock, his passes out were mostly fine, but like Bernard, lost too many tackles in and around the area.

Dexter Lembikisa – 4/10 – Usually a reliable player but failed in this match. Lost the ball every time he went on runs, and none of his crosses came off. Won only one tackle all game.

Greg Leigh – 6/10 – Like most of his teammates, had a bad first half but his performance significantly improved in the second when the team pushed higher and he had a chance to link up with Demarai Gray. His passing was fine, as were his crosses and he was solid in his challenges.

Damion Lowe – 4/10 – Involved for 45 minutes but it was not a productive 45 minutes. Not enough completed passes forward, not enough challenges, and was cautioned for an unnecessarily wild tackle. One of the few things Hallgrímsson got right was taking him off at halftime.

Kasey Palmer – 5.5/10 – He was solid in his challenges but that’s the only reason his rating is this high. Like Lowe, he did not get the ball forward as much as required of a midfielder of his type. An unlucky deflection left him with an own goal.

Bobby Reid – 5/10 – Terrible first half, but had a better second half. He’s a much better player than his form this summer suggests.

Shamar Nicholson – 5.5/10 – Terribly anonymous in the first half but had a better second half. This was largely due to a lack of midfield support but he needed to impose himself more on the game, regardless.

Michail Antonio – 6/10 – Had a similar performance to Nicholson but finally found the net again after two-and-a-half-years.

Substitutes
Michael Hector – 4.5/10 – Came on and had no effect on the game.

Demarai Gray – 6/10 – Came on and linked up well with Leigh on the left and played a role in Jamaica’s lifted performance in the second half. Wasn’t at his best though, and it’s clear he’s still getting over his recent injury.

Kaheim Dixon – 5/10 – Introduced with seven minutes of normal time left but in those seven minutes he struggled to get into the game as he wanted to. The only thing he did of note was get skinned by Ecuador’s Alan Minda for their third goal.

Karoy Anderson – 4/10 – Was perhaps the freshest player on the field when Jamaica conceded the third goal as he was introduced in minute 83, like Dixon. However, he was sluggish chasing Minda on the final goal.

Renaldo Cephas – N/A – Introduced to the game way too late to make an impact. His passing was good though.

Heimir Hallgrímsson – 3/10 – Possibly Jamaica’s worst performance in his tenure. Horrible first half but decided there was nothing to lose when they were 2-0 down at half time, and “went for it” in the second half. Jamaica looked better but he made more poorly timed and questionable substitutions. The performances of late have been woeful, despite some wins, but now the results are beginning to match.

Bonus rating

Referee Cristian Garay – 2/10 – As terrible a performance as you’ll see from a referee. Got both key penalty calls wrong, even after checking the VAR screen for both. Gave some questionable fouls too.
– Rachid Parchment