8 MLS players dominate Jamaica’s WCQ roster
Posted on October 8, 2012
Jamaica has called up eight Major League Soccer players for the final phase of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
Coach Theodore Whitmore selected defenders Jeramine Taylor (Houston Dynamo), Shavar Thomas (Montreal Impact), Dicoy Williams (Toronto FC) and Lovel Palmer (Portland Timbers), midfielder Je-Vaughn Watson (Houston Dynamo) and forwards Dane Richards (Vancouver Whitecaps), Omar Cummings (Colorado Rapids) and Ryan Johnson (Toronto FC).
Richards was listed as a forward instead of a midfielder by the Jamaican Football Federation.
Jamaica faces a pair of vital Group A matches, playing at Guatemala on Friday before hosting Antigua & Barbuda on Tuesday, Oct. 16.
The United States and Guatemala lead the group with 2-1-1 record and seven points. The Reggae Boyz have the same record, but are in third place due to goal differential. The top two teams will qualify for next year’s hexagonal round.
Harbour View midfielder Jermaine Hue was rewarded for his fine start to the Red Stripe Premier League season as he was recalled to the team.
Hue, 34, who last represented Jamaica in a friendly international against Cuba in February, has been included in a team of 24 that travel to Guatemala on Monday. Highly regarded by some and viewed as the creative midfielder that the coaching staff has said is missing from national side, Hue, has been in fine form for his club in a more advanced role and has scored four goals.
Also making a return to the Reggae Boyz was the attacking lef -wingback Demar Phillips. Phillips, who scored the opening goal in Jamaica’s 2-1 win over Guatemala in June, last represented the country in Jamaica’s scoreless away with Antigua in WCQ in in June. He missed both of the country’s qualifiers against the U.S. in September due to an injury.
St George’s College schoolboy midfielder Andre Lewis, an 18-year-old who was a part of Jamaica’s Under-17 team that qualified for the U-17 World in Mexico in 2011 and was one of two Jamaicans to score, also was selected. He is regarded as one of the best young talents in the country. Lewis is the captain of his school’s Manning Cup team and was a part of the school’s triple championship winning team of 2011. He is a member of the country’s Under-20 team.
The Jamaica roster:
Goalkeepers – Dwayne Miller, DuWayne Kerr, Jacomeno Barrett
Defenders – Jermaine Taylor, Shavar Thomas, Dicoy Williams, Nyron Nosworthy, Adrian Marriappa, Demar Phillips, Lovel Palmer, Andrae Campbell
Midfielders – Rodolph Austin, Jason Morrison, Je-Vaughn Watson, Ewan Grandison, Joel Senior, Andre Lewis, Jermaine Hue
Forwards – Dane Richards, Omar Cummings, Ryan Johnson, Tramaine Stewart, Luton Shelton, Kavin Bryan