English Premier League club West Ham United is reportedly enraged after Reggae Boy Michail Antonio suffered a knee injury during Jamaica's first leg of the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal match against Canada at the National Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
According to US media reports, Antonio is flying back to England for a scan as concerns grow that the forward could miss the rest of the season with damage to his medial knee ligament.
The 33-year-old went off late in the first half of the match and was seen limping down the tunnel. The Reggae Boyz lost 2-1 in that matchup.
READ: Canada beat Reggae Boyz 2-1 in first leg of Nations League quarterfinal
West Ham is understood to be angry because Antonio played for more than 10 minutes after sustaining the injury, while they are reportedly unhappy with the state of the pitch at Kingston’s Independence Park.
Antonio will return for tests and there are hopes that he may only miss up to six weeks with the injury. The worst case scenario is that Antonio could be absent for up to nine months.
He has scored two goals this season and appeared in all of the club’s Premier League matches so far. He has also come on as a substitute in two of the club’s Europa League group matches so far in this campaign.
Jarrod Bowen has also returned to the club after suffering a minor knee injury on international duty with England.
Bowen is West Ham’s leading scorer and did not travel to North Macedonia with Gareth Southgate’s squad for Monday night’s game.
Southgate said: “We felt better to leave him in England so that he can get it properly assessed.
“I don’t think it’s going to be anything serious, but we just didn’t have enough time, and we wouldn’t take a risk with that player.”
HOUSE RULES
- We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper; email addresses will not be published.
- Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.
- We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.
- Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.
- Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.
- If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.
- Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy