Sounds like the current coaching in Jamaica's got Steve Sampson's Disease. Unfortunate for their world cup hopes in 2006, I think.
Ralph in the UK The article speaks of the difficulty of Ralph if he wanted to go to England. Do Jamaicans have any way around the work permit regs? Beyond parents or grandparents that is. IMHO this kid is ready for the 1st Division and could start for half the clubs.
Has Nodley been capped by Jamaica yet? Does he have any ties to the US so that Bruce can call him up? I hear he's good in the air.
I refer you to the point I made just before your post: the match was in England, so he called up English-based players. Bruce does the same thing with the US squad: MLS-based players get a shot when the games are over here, and our exports get a chance when the games are in Europe. This game is not a good indicator as to whether he's really ignoring Ralph, especially since Damani is in the middle of a season, so flying him out to England for a friendly on an MLS game day doesn't make much sense, does it. Wait till they have another match here--he'll get the call.
Too bad the article didn't say anything about Damani married to, or about to marry, a girl with US citizenship (and, best case scenario for him, with a parent from an EU country) so that he can become a US citizen sooner rather than later. I wonder if I could talk my sister-in-law into doing her country a great service?
Capped, but not cap-tied. There's a big difference. From the article posted above. "The last time I had any conversation with the Jamaican coaching staff was last summer when myself and Shavar (Thomas) went to Grenada for the friendly. That has been my only game with the national team and I do not know if that qualifies as a cap as it was only a friendly. Friendlies do count as caps. But, they don't cap-tie you to that country. Only FIFA-sanctioned games, which are any world championship, including age-specific ones, any qualifier for any world championship, regardless of age, ane confederation championship and and qualifier for a confederation championship, cap-tie a player to the country for which he played said games. We're basing a lot on this article but according to it, the Grenada game was a friendly and it was the only time he's ever played for Jamaica. Assuming that info is correct, he is NOT cap-tied to Jamaica. So, if Damani marries my sister-in-law (or any other woman whose a US citizen) and becomes an American citizen, he can still play for the USA.
True, but how did FIFA justify allowing Chris Armas to play for the US, after he had, if memory serves, appeared for Puerto Rico in a Gold Cup qualifier? I can't remember what logic they used at the time, or even if they used any logic (wouldn't be the first time for FIFA)
I don't think it was a Gold Cup qualifier, and if it was, at the time it wasn't a FIFA sanctioned event. It was a non-sanctioned game that doubled as a qualifier I believe.
I remember it well. It was some silly tournament they use to have in the Carribean called Copa Carib or some crap like that. It was not a FIFA sanctioned event so he was cleared to play for us.
According to Chris Doran during the FSN broadcast, Galaxy and Jamincian player Tyrone Marshall talked to Damani and told him to try to get on the USA Team rather than Jamica. Thanks!
I can confirm. That's what Doran said. I cannot vouch for Doran's accuracy, but I can vouch for the fact that he said it.
I spoke with Ralph a couple of weeks ago before a game (as he noticed my USMNT jersey) and he told me that he hadn't decided which way he would go with in regards to an international commitment and that he wanted to keep open the possibility of playing for the US. Afterwhich I replied how good a US jersey would look on him.
Lisbie scored a hat-trick against Liverpool. Damani hasn't scored a hat-trick against anybody yet. And now he's getting called up and he might miss a couple of our matches. Brilliant...