Rangers striker Kemar Roofe has made his international debut at the age of 28 as the English-born striker starts for Jamaica.
The Ibrox forward is of Caribbean descent and after an elongated process, the Reggae Boyz have secured passports for a range of top stars based in the UK.
This includes the ex-Leeds United and Anderlecht forward, who made his Jamaica debut alongside the likes of Michael Antonio of West Ham United.
However, the match ended in bitter disappointment as the Jamaican national team were dumped 3-0 by Panama in the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers.
The surprise result saw Jamaica fall to first half strikes from Andres Andrade and Rolando Blackburn in Kingston before Cecilio Waterman put some gloss on the victory in the second half.
In what was also goalkeeper Andre Blake’s 50th appearance, Jamaica fell to their second defeat in the final stage of qualification for Qatar 2022 and will now need to turn things around drastically.
The Caribbean side started the final stage with a 2-1 defeat to Mexico last week but Roofe was not involved due to quarantining rules between the UK and Mexico.
The Rangers striker will also be unavailable for the trip to Costa Rica later in the week with that match fast becoming an important one if the country harbours hopes of World Cup qualification.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWJZZRzDYSw
The results prove there’s still some way to go after Jamaica bolstered its squad with the addition of as many as 12 players from the United Kingdom.
These include the likes of West Ham United’s Michael Antonio, Reading’s Liam Moore, Derby’s Ravel Morrison, Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey and Preston’s Daniel Johnson.
The move to call up the likes of Roofe comes after Jamaican FA President Michael Ricketts confirmed in March the nation was set to push players of Jamaican descent to secure passports ahead of the World Cup in 2022.
“I see Andre Gray, Demarai Gray, Isaac Hayden, who actually approached the JFF about representing us,” said Ricketts [Daily Mail].
“Mason Holgate, Liam Moore, who already has his Jamaican passport, Nathan Redmond, Kemar Roofe and Ivan Toney. All of these we are in the process of acquiring their Jamaican passports.
“The process is becoming a little tedious because of the pandemic but the process is ongoing and we are hopeful we will get the passports for these gentlemen in reasonable time.”
Signing these players up for international duty represents a huge boost to Jamaica’s chances and as things begin to settle they’ll certainly feel the benefit with an improved team and squad.
Meanwhile, Nathan Patterson has had his say on the performances of another international wonderkid impressing during the qualifiers.
