After Leon Bailey scored his first UEFA Champions League goal on Tuesday, the Aston Villa winger says he’s hoping to bring more eyes to Jamaica globally.

The Reggae Boyz forward netted in the opening five minutes in Villa’s important 3-1 away win against Club Brugge in their first-leg round-of-16 tie at the Jan Breydel Stadium in Belgium.

The goal was Bailey’s first goal in Europe’s elite competition after going scoreless in his previous eight appearances. His effort, along with a Marco Asensio penalty and Brandon Mechele’s own goal, give Villa the advantage heading into next Wednesday’s second leg.

Bailey says he’s happy to have played an important role in the English club’s success on Tuesday.

“To be able to come here and get a win, it’s amazing and to top that, I got my first Champions League goal so it was amazing,” he said.

“It’s definitely important, especially because we got the goal very early. This is what we want to do when we play away, it gave us so much confidence moving forward in the game. I think we played brilliantly, we didn’t allow too much opportunities but it’s a great feeling to come here and everybody’s buzzing.”

The 27-year-old joins a prestigious list of Jamaicans to have scored in the Champions League and just the second to score in the knockout stages, joining former Reggae Boy Wes Morgan who did so for Leicester City.

Bailey says he’s proud of his Jamaican connection and hopes to continue shining on the world stage.

“It’s a good thing to know that I’m putting my country on the map; my people, my family, just Jamaica on a whole. To be able to put them on the map and showcase my talent, hopefully a lot more people can come up from Jamaica and get this opportunity to do what I’m doing,” he said.

“For me, it’s a special feeling and I hope I can continue scoring more goals in the Champions League and this is the goal and the aim.”

Although currently focused on his club, Bailey is eyeing a spot for the Reggae Boyz in the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer.

Jamaica, however, need to get by St Vincent and the Grenadines in the home and away qualifiers on March 21 and 25.

Bailey, though, says he’s confident the Steve McClaren-coached team will be able to match up against the region’s powerhouses including hosts USA in June.

“I’m looking forward to the Gold Cup already, we just have to get the qualifiers complete and I’m sure we’ll be there. I’m sure it’s going to be a good Gold Cup for us and I’m really excited and looking forward to it. Hopefully we can do good things this year and that’s the goal,” he said.

Bailey is also looking to end the season strongly for Villa, having seen his form dip over the course of the season.

He’s struggled to replicate his form from the 2023/24 season, during which he scored 14 goals and provided 14 assists across all competitions. This season, he’s only managed two goals and three assists in 34 matches.

Bailey, though, isn’t phased by the drop off and plans to push on.

“It’s a lot of ups and downs, lots of bumps in the road but I’ve come from very humble beginnings, I never let anything get me down so I’m just really in a good place right now and I’m feeling good. We just hope we can finish the season strong,” he said.

Villa, who finished fourth last season, are currently 10th on 42 points but are just five points off the top four with 10 games remaining.