Philadelphia Union announced today that three players have received international call-ups from the Jamaican National team for the upcoming FIFA international window. Andre Blake, Cory Burke, and Alvas Powell will join Jamaica ahead of the group stage of the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup where they face Suriname on Monday, July 12, opponent TBD on July 16, and Costa Rica on July 20.
Blake, who regularly features as Jamaica’s number one goalkeeper, has earned 45 caps for the Reggae Boyz. This is the fourth Gold Cup for Blake, having been on the squad for the tournament in 2015, 2017 and 2019. In 2017, he captained his team to the final where he kept three clean sheets and only allowing four goals in six games. He once again led the team from the back when the Jamaican side went to the semi-finals in 2019. He last joined the team in November 2019 ahead of a pair of matches in the Concacaf Nations League. Prior to that, the captain of the Reggae Boyz played in Nations League matchups vs. Aruba (Oct. 12) and at Aruba (Oct. 15) where he started the match vs. Aruba, keeping a clean sheet in 2-0 win.
Burke has earned 18 caps for the Reggae Boyz, scoring six goals in that time. He made his debut in a World Cup qualifier against Haiti on September 7, 2016 and scored his first international goal just over a month later, tallying against Guyana in Caribbean Cup Qualification on October 12, 2016. In total he has scored four goals in Concacaf Nations League Qualifications and two in Caribbean Cup Qualifiers. He made five appearances in the 2017 Gold Cup, in which he played in five of the six matches that saw Jamaica reach the finals. He most recently received a call-up in September 2019 ahead of a pair Concacaf Nations League B matches.
Powell has been a stalwart on the Jamaican National Team, where he has earned 49 caps and scored two goals. His debut for the Reggae Boyz came in December of 2012 in the Caribbean Cup. He was also part of the championship-winning squad of the 2014 Caribbean Cup. Powell has played an important role in three of Jamaica’s Gold Cup runs, in 2015, 2017 and 2019, where he helped lead the team to two finals and one semi-final. Additionally, Powell has played in a number of World Cup qualifiers and international friendlies. In a 2019 Concacaf Nations League match, Powell scored a brace in a 4-0 win over Guyana for his first international goals. He last joined the Jamaican National team in November 2019 for Concacaf Nations League B where he recorded an assist in a 2-0 win over Antigua and Barbuda (Nov. 16).
