KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC—Striker Leon Bailey may have found a rich vein of form for English Premier League outfit Aston Villa. Still, Jamaica have dropped him from their 23-member squad to face hosts the United States on March 21 in the finals of the Concacaf Nations League.
According to a statement from the Jamaica Football Federation announcing the team on Thursday, the 26-year-old was suspended for breaking curfew in a previous Reggae Boyz camp last year.
Instead, teenaged United Kingdom-born striker Bailey-Tye Cadamarteri was selected for the team for the first time.
Media reports indicated that the 18-year-old, who plays for the English League Championship side Sheffield Wednesday next to Reggae Boyz defender Di Shon Bernard, is also of Italian and Irish descent. Still, he chose to honor his Jamaican heritage.
Cadamarteri was interested in playing for Ireland, but he did not qualify, and Boyz head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson will be hoping he can give him the firepower that will be missed up front with Bailey’s absence against the competitive Americans.
West Ham striker Michail Antonio has been recalled to the side, which also includes several other England-based players such as strikers Bobby De Cordova-Reid of Fulham and Jamal Lowe of Swansea City, and midfielders Kasey Palmer of Coventry City, Daniel Johnson of Stoke City and Karoy Anderson of Charlton Athletic.
Another teenage striker, Kaheim Dixon, who led Clarendon College to two schoolboy titles on the island and forced his way into the Jamaica Premier League unit, Arnett Gardens, is one of three homegrown players who have made the final cut.
The other two are Mount Pleasant goalkeeper Shaquan Davis and Cavaliers defender Richard King.
Dixon scored the winning goal for the Boyz in a two-match friendly series against Trinidad & Tobago, which they won 1-0.
The match between the Jamaicans and the Americans takes place next Thursday at AT&T Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, in Arlington, Texas.
The winner will face the winner of the other semi-final between Mexico and Panama in the Grand Final on Sunday, March 24, with the two losing sides playing in a consolation final on the same day – all at the same venue.
Squad:
Goalkeepers – Andre Blake, Shaquan Davis, Jahmali Waite.
Defenders: Richard King, Damion Lowe, Di Shon Bernard, Michael Hector, Dexter Lembikisa, Tayvon Gray, and Greg Leigh.
Midfielders – Daniel Johnson, Joel Latibeaudiere, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Karoy Anderson, Kasey Palmer, Renaldo Cephas.
Forwards: Corey Burke, Bailey Cadamarteri, Demarai Gray, Shamari Nicholson, Michail Antonio, Jamal Lowe, and Kaheim Dixon.
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