The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) is intensifying its preparation for the senior men’s team’s international friendly match against Argentina with the naming of a 23-man squad and a new permanent head coach later this week.

The Reggae Boyz are scheduled to face Argentina, one of the favourites for the Fifa World Cup later this year, in a game in Harrison, New Jersey, on September 27. However, captain and goalkeeper Andre Blake is notably absent.

Blake is, however, not injured, having played all 90 minutes in the Philadelphia Union’s 5-1 win over Orlando City in Major League Soccer on Saturday.

“I don’t know why I wasn’t selected to be involved in the squad,” Blake told the Jamaica Observer on Monday. “I am for sure not injured though. Maybe this is a better question to ask [Rudolph] Speid (JFF’s Technical Committee chairman) and the rest of the selectors.”

When contacted, the JFF said Blake was not selected because he was not involved in any recent practice matches. However, Shamar Nicholson, who has not been named in a national squad since the Concacaf Nations League in June, where Blake also featured, is in line to face Argentina.

The Observer was told that the JFF will announce its new head coach in a press conference on Friday.

A well-placed source at the JFF says that the new coach will be a European, which rules out Paul Hall making the interim head coach role permanent, although whether he will return in another capacity is not yet known.

There has been speculation recently about who could fill the role, with former Germany and United States Men’s National Team head coach J체rgen Klinsmann linked, but the Observer was told that it is not the 1990 Fifa World Cup winning striker.

Although another name linked is former Mount Pleasant Technical Director Wally Downes, a Briton, the Observer was also told he will not be appointed.

Hall has served as interim head coach since December, moving up from assistant coach after the dismissal of former national coach Theodore Whitmore. However, the Reggae Boyz were guided in their last two international friendly matches by Merron Gordon, Whitmore’s other assistant. Hall was unavailable for national duty because of club commitments with Queens Park Rangers in the English Football League Championship.

Jamaica had previously employed two high-profile European coaches. Velibor “Bora” Milutinovi, a Serbian, coached the Reggae Boyz between 2006 and 2007, and Winfried Sch채fer, a German, held the role between 2013 and 2016. Schaefer famously guided the Reggae Boyz to their first ever Concacaf Gold Cup final in 2015, where they lost 3-1 to Mexico. They also competed as guests in CONMEBOL’s Copa America tournament, losing all three group games. Sch채fer also guided the team in the Copa America Centenario, where they had a similar outcome.

Sch채fer has also recently said he is open to returning to work with the JFF.

Jamaica squad to face Argentina:

Goalkeepers

Dillion Barnes (QPR)

Jahmali Waite (Pittsburgh Riverhounds)

Kemar Foster (Waterhouse)

Defenders

Adrian Mariappa (Macarthur FC)

Richard King (Cavalier)

Javain Brown (Vancouver Whitecaps)

Jamoi Topey (Mount Pleasant)

Joel Latibeaudiere (Swansea City)

Gregory Leigh (Ipswich Town)

Amari’i Bell (Luton Town)

Damion Lowe (Inter Miami)

Midfielders

Daniel Johnson (Preston North End)

Bobby Reid (Fulham)

Ravel Morrison (DC United)

Kevon Lambert (Phoenix Rising)

Jonathan Russell (Huddersfield Town)

Kevin Stewart (Blackpool)

Forwards

Jamal Lowe (Bournemouth)

Kaheem Parris (Dynamo Kyiv)

Andre Gray (Aris)

Shamar Nicholson (Spartak Moscow)

Leon Bailey (Aston Villa)

Michail Antonio (West Ham United)