Tyreek Magee was the hero for Mount Pleasant Football Academy after leading them to the Concacaf Caribbean Cup. Now, he wants to complete another rescue act, this time for Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz as they seek to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.

The creative midfielder, in just his second appearance since joining the club in October, was named man of the match in Mount Pleasant’s 2-2 draw over Dominican Republic’s O&M FC in the final’s second leg last Tuesday at the National Stadium which saw them winning the tie 3-2 on aggregate.

Brought on as a half-time substitute, Magee created several opportunities and scored the decisive second goal which ensured the St Ann-based club won their first-ever regional title.

It was a performance that many Jamaicans fan were hoping to see during the Reggae Boyz heartbreaking 0-0 draw with Curacao last month which saw them fail to automatically qualify for next year’s World Cup.

Although Magee wasn’t part of the squad, he still felt the sting of the nation missing out.

“I was very, very disappointed to be honest. I really wanted it to be done from the last set of qualifiers but unfortunately it didn’t happen,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

The 26-year-old was not involved in the final round of World Cup Qualifying after being left out by former Head Coach Steve McClaren.

After earning a recall in the Concacaf Nations League in October 2024, Magee featured in six of McClaren’s first eight games. However, after being an unused substitute against the St Vincent and the Grenadines last March, he wasn’t selected for subsequent squads.

“I don’t know why I was left out after that but I went to the games against St Vincent twice. I was there but I didn’t play. I don’t know why I was left out,” Magee said.

It’s a familiar story for the former high school standout with Jamaica College. Under former coaches Theodore Whitmore, Heimir Hallgrimsson and McClaren, Magee never fully cemented his place, managing just 16 appearances since his debut in 2019.

Over that six-year span, he’s been left out of close to 30 squads named for Jamaica’s matches and has been an unused substitute in 15 of the 31 squads he’s been a part of. He’s also never completed a full 90 minutes in any of his nine starts.

Magee, though, is confident in his abilities and believes he can make a difference ahead of the Reggae Boyz final push for qualifying in March’s intercontinental play-offs.

“To be completely honest with you, I really don’t know why stuff played out this way or is playing out this way right now but it’s never too late for a shower of rain,” he said.

“I know what I can do and I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of people around the national setup as well that really knows what I can do. And whenever, or if I’m called up, I’ll definitely be ready to play my part because at the end of the day, it’s Jamaica and I love my country. And apart from all of that, I want to play into a World Cup — and I’m sure it’s the same for all the players — and I’m just ready to do whatever I can to help Jamaica get to the World Cup.”

Although Rudolph Speid will lead the team during the play-offs, Miguel Coley will be his assistant, a coach Magee knows well, having won three Manning Cup titles together at Jamaica College.

“Before he got the job, I talked to him about football and stuff like that but since he got it, I didn’t say anything to him as yet but yeah, he knows me,” Magee said. “We worked together for about three or four years. He was a key part of my development, I think he was one of the persons that helped me to grow the most as a player.”

“Apart from all of that, he knows a lot about football and is a really good coach so I feel like it’s a big plus for us as a country and I think it’s going to be good times with him around,” he added.

If selected, Magee says he plans to give it his all and repay the faith Jamaica and its supporters have in him.

“it’s my country —this is all I know and it means every single thing to me,” he said. “I’m sure it means every single thing to [the fans] as well.”

“When you’re playing and just to hear them chanting, making all the noises and stuff like that, that gets you pumped up and even when you’re tired, just hearing them gives you that extra energy to do something, to create something, to make them happy and that’s something I really, really enjoy doing.”

Jamaica will need to beat New Caledonia and then DR Congo if they’re to join Portugal, Colombia and Uzbekistan in Group K at the tournament in the USA.

Tyreek Magee (left) of Jamaica tries to get away from Christian Pulisic of the United States during the first-leg Concacaf Nations League quarter-final football match at the National Stadium on November 14, 2024. Photo: Garfield Robinson