At the age of 31, most footballers would be forgiven for starting to think about winding down their international career. But for West Ham United’s star striker Michail Antonio, starting late has not proven to be a barrier, carrying his exceptional form for the East London side into Jamaica’s two most recent World Cup qualifiers.
A long time coming
Antonio’s journey to representing the Reggae Boyz has been one of perseverance and change. Similarly, his rise to becoming one of the Premier League’s most in-form strikers, since starting out in non-league, has required patience and versatility. Starting his career as a winger, he played out wide and even at right-back before making the move up-front to lead the line during the 2019-20 season.
His recent change of position to striker has propelled the Jamaican’s career, scoring 10 goals in both the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 Premier League campaigns. This season he has already netted six times in 11 appearances and looks on track for a career-best tally.
His upturn in form has coincided with West Ham’s drastic improvement under David Moyes. The Scotsman, now in his second spell in charge of the Hammers, has transformed the club from a side battling relegation, into one that is pushing for a Champions League position.
Chances hard to come by
Yet despite this upturn in form, Antonio has not seen an increase in his international opportunities, which led to him reconsidering which nation he wanted to represent earlier this year. He originally rejected the opportunity to represent Jamaica in March 2016, determined to try and break into the England side at the time. He received his first callup to the squad in the August, as part of Sam Allardyce’s first and only England squad, although he was an unused substitute. His only other call-up for the Three Lions came in March 2017, however he would be forced to withdraw from the squad due to a hamstring injury.
With no call-ups in the following years, he was approached again by Jamaica in February of this year as the Reggae Boyz looked to improve their chances of qualifying for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. They approached other players based in England, who had Jamaican heritage, hoping they would agree to represent the island nation. Antonio joined the likes of Watford striker Andre Gray, Derby attacking-midfielder Ravel Morrison and Reading central defender Liam Moore in switching his international allegiance from England to Jamaica, the West Ham man qualifying through his parents.
Antonio made his international debut on the 5th of September, playing 70 minutes in a 3-0 loss to Panama and spent the game isolated due to a lack of service from his teammates. His most recent international fixtures have proved more fruitful. He netted his first goal for Jamaica in a 1-1 draw against El Salvador, and then three days later he produced an absolute thunderbolt from long range to bring his side level with CONCACAF Gold Cup Winners the USA in a game that also ended 1-1.
“A moment I will never forget”
Tweeting after his first goal for his country, Antonio wrote: “Scoring my first goal for Jamaica is a moment I will never forget. Gutted we couldn’t come away with the win.”
Michail Antonio’s importance to both his club and national team right now can not be overstated. It is perhaps best displayed by the fact that West Ham’s co-owner David Sullivan spent £100,000 to charter a private jet to fly Antonio back to London a day earlier than scheduled so he was as fresh as possible for the game away to Wolves in the Premier League, a match the Hammers would unfortunately lose 1-0.
Now flourishing and in the form of his life, Antonio’s rise and recent success highlights how opportunities can present themselves at any point. His adaptability and willingness to play in different positions to help the team highlights how remaining patient and working hard can yield tremendous results.
