Already author of 11 goals and 4 assists in 17 matches this season, Mason Greenwood is “probably the second best English striker behind Harry Kane”. It’s the tabloid The Sun who writes it. However, his future in the England team is blocked. After his first and only cape with the Three Lions, in September 2020, the OM star slipped several times, including this terrible case of domestic violence which stopped his rise in his tracks.
Three years after the events, and despite his effectiveness in the club, his record has not been cleared with the general public and the press across the Channel. Thomas Tuchel, the national coach, therefore still does not see him as a potential reinforcement for his team with a view to the 2026 World Cup. An opportunity for Jamaica, the country of his grandparents, who have taken many steps in recent months to convince him to change his sporting nationality.
Mason Greenwood is not welcome in Jamaica
In September, when Mason Greenwood officially obtained his Jamaican passport, this scenario became very real. But the Marseillais refused to join the Reggae Boyz, preferring to procrastinate. A situation which is seriously starting to annoy in the Caribbean. The media The Athletic contacted two players from Jamaica who, they say bluntly, do not want a weather vane like the Olympian player in their ranks.
Isaac Hayden, who has 12 caps with the Reggae Boyz, was born in England like Mason Greenwood. And he confides having met “a certain resistance” in its early days, before finally being well accepted. The message he sent to the Jamaican Football Federation (JFF) was unequivocal about his compatriot: for him, his hesitations and his moods say a lot about his real desire to invest in his second homeland.
“I told them: ‘If a player is not ready to commit to the final round of qualifying, unless there is an injury, I don’t see why he should join the squad in March or at the end of the season if we qualify.’ This is simply unacceptable.”he says, while Jamaica will face New Caledonia in the semi-finals of the intercontinental play-offs next March, before a possible final against the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“It would be a real farce”
“I have spoken with the players who have been playing in the Jamaican national team for years. Some might play eight matches to qualify for the World Cup, but then find themselves overtaken by players who take over once qualification has been achieved. I don’t think it would suit me, or other players for that matter. I do not wish to participate in this”adds the Queens Park Rangers midfielder.
“The quality of the player, his statistics, his performance, all of that is exceptional, but in the end, it all comes down to principles and integrityhe continues. If players can only show up for a World Cup, it would be a complete farce. It would say a lot about the player, and the organization that would let it happen. » Same story with Amari’i Bell, for whom a selection of Mason Greenwood just before the North American World Cup would be
“unfair”.
“For years, many of us have given our all to represent our country, despite the challenges behind the scenes. We had to face it allhe explains. It would be unfair to those who had this experience and who will never have the opportunity to play in a World Cup again. (…) You need a good atmosphere and good energy within the team. There should not be any distance between the players. » Mason Greenwood is warned.
