Andre Blake called up for Jamaica friendly

Philadelphia Union starting goalkeeper Andre Blake has been called up to the Jamaican national team’s next friendly against Antigua & Barbuda. The friendly is set to be played at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday, March 25th. Training for the friendly starts on Tuesday, March 20th for the players that have been called up for the national team.

Along with Blake, other MLS players that were called up by the Jamaica national team are Oniel Fisher of D.C. United, Kemar Lawrence of the New York Red Bulls, and Romario Williams of Atlanta FC. Dennis Taylor of USL team Reno FC also received a call-up for this match.

Andre Blake is a key member of the Jamaican national team. Blake was the starting goalkeeper during Jamaica’s fantastic run in the 2017 Gold Cup, as the Reggae Boyz reached the final of the tournament against the United States. However, the Reggae Boyz lost Blake to injury 23 minutes into the match, and the United States went on to beat Jamaica 2-1. Before losing in the final, Jamaica had beaten Canada in the quarterfinals and, in a massive upset, Mexico in the semifinals.

Luckily for the Union, the team is not scheduled to play that weekend. A number of high-profile players in MLS will be missing time to play for their national teams that weekend, as most international teams have scheduled friendlies that week to either evaluate their team or prepare for the World Cup in Russia this summer.

The United States will play Paraguay on Tuesday, March 27th in Cary, North Carolina. Canada will take on New Zealand in Spain on Saturday the 24th. Mexico has two friendlies scheduled, as they will take on Iceland in Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on Friday, the 23rd of March and then travel to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, to face Croatia on Tuesday, March 27th.