Andre Blake is on Jamaica’s Copa América roster, but it’s not clear at all if he’ll play

Union manager Jim Curtin said the goalkeeper will stay in Chester "until he’s healthy. I don’t have the exact date that that’s going to be." Jamaica's first tournament game is June 22.

Andre Blake had knee surgery in late May, and is in a race against time to play in the Copa América for Jamaica.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Updated June 13, 2024, 3:43 p.m. ET

Published June 13, 2024, 1:31 p.m. ET

When Jamaica unveiled its Copa América roster late Wednesday night, Andre Blake was on it. But with just over a week to go until the Reggae Boyz’ first game, the injured star goalkeeper is still in Chester rehabbing after the knee surgery he had a few weeks ago.

That is unusual, to put it politely. If he’s healthy enough to be on the squad, he should be on the way to its camp by now. There seems to be some uncertainty, though, because Union manager Jim Curtin said Thursday that Blake won’t leave town until he’s healthy enough to play — and Curtin refused to put a timeline on when that could happen.

“Whether he’s available for Jamaica, I can’t answer that,” Curtin said. “I think I’d be talking out of turn, really, because he’s obviously been selected by them, and I don’t know how quickly he’s going to be ready.”

Blake had surgery late last month to clean up the meniscus in his right knee after missing five Union games. He was expected to be out for four to six weeks, which ruled him out of Jamaica’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers this month. (The Reggae Boyz won both games anyway, 1-0 at home vs. the Dominican Republic last Thursday and 3-2 at Dominica on Sunday.)

Jamaica manager Heimir Hallgrímsson said in a statement through the Jamaican federation on Thursday that he hopes Blake will make it, but he didn’t sound too optimistic.

“I think it would be really good for the squad if he would be in, in one form or another,” Hallgrímsson said. “He’s a captain, he’s a leader in this team, and it would be nice to have him on board whether he is fully fit to play or not.”

Curtin said Wednesday that Blake’s rehab is “slightly ahead of schedule,” and that he saw Blake at the Union’s practice facility Wednesday morning with “[a] smile on his face, happy.”

But Curtin was quick to add, “That doesn’t mean he’s going to step on the field tomorrow and be out there doing all the things that a dynamic goalkeeper needs to do: kicking, jumping, throwing, all those things.”

As sensible as that is, it still doesn’t answer the question of when Blake would leave town. That was put to Curtin again, and he seemed to hesitate as he answered.

“That’s the thing: He’s going to be here until he’s healthy,” Curtin said. “I don’t have the exact date that that’s going to be — I know you’re trying to add up the weeks, and you want me to give you an exact timeline. It would be a miracle if he plays when Jamaica plays, I would put it that way. But he is Andre Blake, so we’ll see.”

Jamaica’s first Copa game is June 22 against Mexico in Houston (FS1, Univision 62, TUDN, ViX). The Reggae Boyz then play Ecuador in Las Vegas on June 26, and their group finale is against Venezuela on June 30 in Austin, Texas. That game could see Blake and Damion Lowe, who also made Jamaica’s tournament roster, face his Union teammate and Venezuelan José Andrés Martínez.

Halgrímsson put Blake in a group of three “optional players” for the tournament along with veterans Amari Bell (who’s also injured) and Leon Bailey (who’s holding out, charging the Jamaican federation with being cheap).

“For them it’s a long shot, but we opted to put them in the squad in case we would go all the way to the end of the tournament,” Hallgrímsson said, as unlikely as that is. “It would be nice to have them supporting the group in the end.”

Oliver Semmle will keep starting for the Union in Blake’s absence, with 18-year-old academy product Andrew Rick as his backup.

The Union’s next game is Saturday against Inter Miami, and both teams will be missing many key players. Miami will be without superstars Lionel Messi (Argentina) and Luis Suárez (Uruguay), and young attacking midfielder Matías Rojas (Paraguay); and the Union will also be without Dániel Gazdag, who’s with Hungary at the European Championship.

Messi’s absence has been expected ever since the Union’s schedule was first announced in December. Even back then, when fans started calling the team to buy tickets for this game, the ticket office staff said from the start that he likely would not be in attendance.

That hasn’t stopped some secondary-market buyers from driving prices up for Saturday. But if they had paid attention, they’d have known what was coming.