Demarai Gray
Demarai Gray has had much success at the club level, coming through the youth system at Birmingham City, winning the Premier League with Leicester City, had a brief stint with German club Bayer Leverkusen and is now at home with Everton.
But Gray has always really enjoyed redefining the expectations of himself by pushing to the next level, which is why his move to represent Jamaica could not have come at a better time, as he believes there is much for him to achieve on the international stage.
The 26-year-old represented England at the under-21 level where he earned 26 caps between 2016 and 2018 and was a member of the senior team to the 2018 World Cup in Russia but did not feature in any game.
It is the lack of opportunities with the England senior team, that influenced Gray's decision to obtain a Jamaican passport through his maternal grandparents, and he has set himself a long-term goal of helping the Reggae Boyz reach a major tournament.
"Obviously the country has been trying to get a hold of me for a long time, so when you feel wanted and valued, it is always great for my confidence based on where I am at in my career and the things I want to achieve and stuff. Now is the right time to hit those targets and I'm getting to the peak of my career so I'm ready, I'm at a good point and I want to create memories and history with the country," Gray declared.
"We (the players) respect the support of the fans, me personally, I love the vibe and the culture and hopefully with the fans, we can come together as one big nation and create good things. Obviously, now it's time for the Gold Cup but in the long run, I think we will keep improving, keeping getting stronger as a team and with the support of the fans we can do special stuff," he added.
The winger's first assignment with the Reggae Boyz will be a baptism of fire of sorts, as Heimir Hallgrimsson's side are set to open their Concacaf Gold Cup campaign with Group A against reigning seven-time champion United States at Soldier Field in Chicago later this evening at 9:06pm Jamaica time. Trinidad and Tobago and first-timer St Kitts and Nevis are also a part of the group.
Having endured the lengthy process that comes with switching allegiance, Gray is intent on making it count by producing a string of his usual quality and eye-catching performances.
"It's good to finally be her I kind of feel like it's been a long time coming, it was not a simple process so to get it over the line in time for this tournament was important and good for me.
I'm just grateful and obviously proud to represent Jamaica and hopefully I can put in some good performances, score some goals and create some history for Jamaica," Gray reasoned.
"I am feeling good after a fairly short break, I'm refreshed, obviously the conditions are tough here but over the next few days, hopefully, I will adapt to it and hopefully I'll get off to a good start," he said.
That Gray found it so easy to settle in with the Reggae Boyz, comes from the fact that he has not only rubbed shoulders with the other English-based players before, but because they all have the same ambition and goal --to make Jamaica proud.
"I am excited to be around the boys I know it’s a strong team everyone is together, and the vibes is good and stuff so it's good so far. I played with A'mari [Bell] at the youth level and Bailey in Germany where he helped me settle in there as well and he was on me about joining the (Reggae Boyz) team and Wes Morgan as well when he was at Leicester told me about stuff here and the ambitions," Gray shared.
"Then I met the manager and he expanded on it, so collectively a lot of people influenced my decision but personally I've been looking forward to doing this, so it's good to finally settle in. Where I am at now in my career, there are things I want to achieve and I feel like I can do that here in Jamaica and like I said, the whole team is positive and I feel like it's a good start being here at the Gold Cup, it's an achievement," he noted.
Given his blossoming form, his confidence on the ball and his willingness to take on his man, the soft-spoken player will certainly complement the likes of Bailey, Michail Antonio, Shamar Nicholson and others in what is without a doubt, a quality team on paper.
"Like a lot of the boys are saying, it's probably the strongest squad they have been involved in, so I am happy to influence and play my part to help the team achieve things in the tournament and obviously in the future as well, reach the next World Cup and things like that.
"So, I think it's exciting times for Jamaica, not only now, because the next few years, it's only going to get stronger. So we can look long term, but for now, we are just focused on this tournament and making sure that we get a good start," Gray ended.
Sherdon Cowan is a five-time award-winning journalist with 10 years' experience covering sports.
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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