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McClaren: Local Boyz have earned their spots
June 11, 2025
Reggae Boyz head coach Steve McClaren has defended his recent squad selections for the Unity Cup, Concacaf World Cup Qualifiers and Concacaf Gold Cup, particularly for the players from the Jamaica Premier League (JPL), saying they have all earned their spots in the national programme.
"Any player who comes into this squad, comes in on merit, and not because they're local but because they can play well enough to be in the squad," McClaren said.
With his local camps earlier this year, McClaren has taken a special interest in ensuring the path to the national squad is open to top players from not only overseas, but also the JPL.
Several of those involved in the local camps have since earned his approval, with 10 JPL players making his squad for the Gold Cup playoffs against St Vincent and the Grenadines.
McClaren had again selected 10 JPL players for his Unity Cup squad, with five being involved for the World Cup Qualifiers and upcoming Gold Cup.
The Reggae Boyz boss explained one of his objectives with his selected process was to ensure there was a balance with the local and international-based players, without sacrificing the team's quality.
"I think it is important to have a balance and not be lopsided one way or another," he said.
"There are the camps we had in January, February. What we did in St Vincent, we had 10. What we did in the Unity Cup, we had 10. They are all good players and they wouldn't be there if they weren't good enough," he said.
RIGHT EXPERIENCE
With the players competing on the island on a weekly basis, McClaren believes they bring a further sense of patriotism and connection to Jamaican football.
He also said they bring added experience of football in the region, which adds to the team's composure when they play on less than ideal surfaces.
"I think since the introduction of the local players, you get a sense of pride and more used to, shall we say, Concacaf football and Caribbean football and what is required to win," he analysed.
He cited the team's 1-0 win against the British Virgin Islands (BVI) as an example of the influence of the local players.
Warner Brown, the JPL's golden boot winner, scored the winning goal in the contest and secured Jamaica's passage to the third round of the World Cup Qualifiers.
"Saturday was a great example of the conditions of the field. It is not ideally perfect and the local players play on that every week so they know how to play on that," he explained.
"The local players deserve to be included, and whoever is included deserve to be in the squad."
Jamaica have been drawn in Group C of the Gold Cup, alongside Panama, Guatemala and Guadeloupe.
The Reggae Boyz will open their campaign against Guatemala on June 16, before taking on Guadeloupe and Panama on June 20 and June 24, respectively.
