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Watford’s Andre Gray is among a group of English-born players bidding to go one step further than Gareth Southgate’s men at Euro 2020 and taste international glory this summer by winning the Gold Cup with Jamaica.
The Reggae Boyz face tournament hosts USA in Sunday evening’s quarter-final in Arlington, Texas with eight Anglos in their squad.
Bobby Decordova-Reid and Michael Hector (both Fulham), Adrian Mariappa and Liam Moore (both Reading), Dillon Barnes (QPR), Amari’i Bell (Luton) and Gray all grew up in England while Kingston-born Daniel Johnson moved as a youngster and now plays for Preston.
Watford's Andre Gray is one of a group of English-born players who are representing Jamaica
Gray made his international debut in March but feared he would miss out on the Gold Cup, the North and Central American equivalent of the Euros – because he needed a Jamaican passport for competitive games and his hadn’t arrived by the time the squad was announced at the start of July.
‘I’d been going through the process for around two years but it was made more complicated because my grandfather had died,’ reveals Gray.
‘When the squad was announced, my passport hadn’t arrived so I couldn’t be picked. It was so frustrating, an absolute nightmare. I’d resigned myself to missing out and was ready to go back to pre-season training with Watford.
‘Even though the passport was actually confirmed the day after, I thought it was too late. But then the following week Jamaica
