USMNT
The USMNT set to face a weakened Jamaica side in the Nations League
Gregg Berhalter’s side have to get past Jamaica if they want to make it to the final of the Nations League.
When it was announced that the USMNT would have to face Jamaica in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Nations League 2023-24 (Thursday March 21, with kick off at 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT.), every soccer fan around the world might have thought that Gregg Berhalter’s side would have a tough task given Jamaica’s talented squad. However, for various reasons, the Reggae Boyz’s squad has been depleted and is looking on thin ice.
Although the side played well in the quarterfinals of the Nations League -eliminating Canada- as well as a strong performance in the 2023 Gold Cup, the situation is not encouraging ahead of their match against the US, given the fact that they have some very important absentees.
USMNT - Jamaica team news
Rumors indicate that their most important player, Michail Antonio, will be absent from the match. While the reasons are still unknown, everything seems to indicate that he does not want to risk a new injury given his recent fitness concerns.
In the first leg against Canada in the Nations League quarterfinals, Antonio had to come off after 20 minutes and was out until mid-February. After seven games with West Ham, he finally scored again on Sunday against Aston Villa in a 1-1 draw.
As well as this key question mark, other absentees include Demarai Gray (Al-Ettifaq), Leon Bailey (Aston Villa) and Shamar Nicholson (Clermont), who are suspended, as well as the injured Ethan Pinnock (Brentford) and Amari’i Bell (Luton Town).
As for the United States National Team, they suffered the losses of Josh Sargent and Luca de la Torre; Haji Wright and Brenden Aaronson were added to replace them. As well as these two changes, key players such as Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams are both fit to be part of the squad having recovered from physical issues: the duo are, even if their minutes are limited, a huge presence in the dressing room.
Given these contrasting circumstances surrounding the two squads, the USMNT are the heavy favourite reach their third CONCACAF Nations League final. They have dominated the competition since the very first edition in 2020-21, winning both times. The confederation would be rubbing its hands together with a USA vs. Mexico final, but Panama will not go down without a fight (Thursday March 21, with kick off at 10:15 p.m. ET / 7:15 p.m. PT.) in the other game that is set to be an enticing showdown.