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Michail Antonio Misses out on Jamaica Squad

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West Ham striker Michail Antonio has missed out on the latest Jamaica international squad – despite a previous report from Sky Sports confirming that the striker has changed his international allegiance.

According to the BBC, Antonio was not one of the six England-born players to be called into the Jamaica squad’s setup.

The Hammers frontman has been called up to England under both Gareth Southgate and Sam Allardyce but was never capped in a competitive game and thus never locked into an allegiance with the Three Lions.

Antonio qualifies for the Caribbean nation through his parents and is believed to be in the process of securing the necessary paperwork that would seal his eligibility for the Reggae Boyz.

Wigan defender Curtis Tilt, Blackburn left-back Amari’i Bell, Brentford centre-back Ethan Pinnock and Rotherham centre-back Wes Harding join the likes of Andre Gray and Liam Moore as English-born players seeing call-ups for Jamaica.

Opinion

The experienced and proven Premier League marksman has surely not been merely snubbed by Jamaica.

Instead, it looks as though his exclusion is on a legal technicality rather than an outright rejection of his talents.

West Ham fans can still look forward to the prospect of the Jamaica forward benefitting from regular international football as he proves himself on the world stage.

Indeed, Jamaica looks set for several exciting additions to contention after Jamaica’s chief footballing president Michael Ricketts confirmed a number of talents were in the process of securing Jamaican passports.

JFF chief Ricketts previously said [via the Sun]:

“I see Andre Gray, Demarai Gray, Isaac Hayden, 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.”

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