Omar Holness remembers clearly getting his first invitation to join the Jamaican National Team. He remembers thinking nothing could exceed that call – the summons to first suit up for his home country.
Now, two years later, Holness is back with Jamaica for the first time, but this time, things are a bit different. He’s not a 20-year-old invited to a friendly early in a World Cup cycle, as he was when he made his debut in a friendly against Canada in 2014. These are crucial World Cup qualifiers against Panama and Haiti that will determine Jamaica’s international fate for the next two years.
“The fact that it’s a World Cup qualifier and not a friendly … that’s big time,” Holness said before departing with the Reggae Boyz for Panama.
Jamaica is currently in third in the four-team group in the Fourth Round of qualifying from the CONCACAF region. With four points from the first four matches, Jamaica trails Costa Rica (10 points) and Panama (7 points) and is ahead of Haiti (1 point). The top two teams will advance to the next round, so Jamaica will need a win over Panama in Panama City to remain in contention.
Holness is a part of an MLS-heavy roster that will be looking to advance to the Hexagonal Round with nine players representing MLS clubs on hand and an additional three players from USL clubs. With the critical nature of the matches and the strong influence MLS players will have, Holness is excited at the direction the league is going with regard to his national team.
“There are some quality players in the mix,” Holness said. “For us, it’s two must-win games. MLS has a lot of quality in it and players that play in it. We just have to be confident that we can get three points in each so we can qualify for the next round.”
