Gordon Williams, Sunday Gleaner
Hurt by exclusion from Jamaica’s squad for the final round of World Cup qualifiers (WCQ), Lovel Palmer has announced his retirement from international football at age 29.
Palmer said he “honestly” had “no clue” why he was dumped by Jamaica and will no longer be available for national selection.
“It cut me deep and I’m still bleeding,” the defender/midfielder said last Wednesday, ahead of his club Real Salt Lake’s (RSL) November 24 second-leg tie in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference final.
“We’re not in the World Cup after all the sacrifices the guys made in the semi-final round … I’m done with national-team football. I’m hanging up my boots where that is concerned. I am no longer thinking about it.”
Palmer started and played every minute for the Reggae Boyz in all six games of the CONCACAF WCQ semi-final round, but was dropped for the 10 games in the hexagonal stage from which Jamaica failed to advance to the 2014 World Cup. He was shocked not being called up for the ‘hex’.
“I had been playing and training at a high level,” Palmer said, “and I did not even get an invite in the 23.”
Former Jamaica international Andy Williams, a 1998 World Cup veteran, currently chief scout with RSL, said he too was baffled by Palmer’s omission.
“Based on the squad I saw for the qualifiers I absolutely think he should have been on the field,” Williams said Wednesday.
During the hex, several Boyz questioned Palmer’s omission.
“Every time I joined the squad I saw a bunch of new players,” said one English-born player after Jamaica lost to the US last month, dashing World Cup hopes. “I always asked ‘Where is Lovel? Why is he not here?'”
Palmer said he never claimed to be “among Jamaica’s best players” or an automatic national pick. He admitted hearing “talk” he wasn’t good enough for international football, but not by coaches and teammates.
passionate about representing Jamaica
The former Harbour View man, who made his senior national debut in 2005 and played close to 30 times for the country, said he’s passionate about representing Jamaica and nothing could erase the positive results when he contributed during the WCQ, including a historic first win against the US in September 2012.
“There is one guarantee,” Palmer said. “I played in the team that qualified for the final round and I played every minute.”
Palmer blamed the heavy influx of new players, mainly those born overseas who joined the team in the hex at the expense of Jamaican-born players, for the Boyz’ performance in CONCACAF’s final round. That strategy disrupted team chemistry built in the previous round.
“It has to be,” said Palmer. “There was no camaraderie. I did not see fight.
” … Where were these (new) guys when we were struggling to get to the hex? We all heard their names when we were struggling to make the hex. Jamaica wasn’t on their priority list.
“The players that they brought in the final round, those are the players I’m talking about. I’m not saying they are not good players. But even if you brought them in, you have to mix them in with who was there. We didn’t.”
Palmer said he respects the overseas-born players who rallied to Jamaica’s World Cup cause from the semis. One incident, during Jamaica’s crucial clash against Antigua and Barbuda in the round’s final game, particularly inspired him.
“(Nyron) Nosworthy pulled a hamstring in the 25th minute … but this guy played with a pulled hamstring and he was willing to fight for the team,” said Palmer. “I was willing to fight with him. I didn’t see that (fight from Jamaica) in the hex.”
Palmer was annoyed by the exclusion of Jamaican-born players like Jason Morrison and Shavar Thomas during the hex. In September, Morrison also expressed disappointment at being discarded shortly after the CONCACAF semis.
“I felt hard done by that, because after being a key player in the team that helped the team to qualify for the final round, played 90 minutes in all the games, and then I’m not in the 23-man squad,” he told The Sunday Gleaner.
But Palmer was most upset his lifelong wish has fizzled.
“I’m bitter for missing out on the World Cup,” he said. “Every player’s dream is to play at the highest level. At age 29 I know I won’t play in another World Cup. It’s hard to sit and watch my dream vanish.
” … I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let go of this (WCQ) campaign.”