Yahoo News 'Forgotten' Stoke City midfielder waits on Copa America announcement
Daniel Johnson will find out this evening if he is going to be part of the Jamaica squad heading to this summer's Copa America.
The 31-year-old midfielder has almost slipped out of mind at Stoke City, who he joined from Preston North End in pre-season having just helped Jamaica reach the Gold Cup semi-finals in the US. He only made one league start after Christmas in 2023/24 - a 3-1 defeat at Blackburn in February - and didn't get onto the pitch at all after that.
But he is expected to be included in a 26-man international party which will be announced at 8pm local time at Usain Bolt's Tracks and Records. The selected players will then fly on June 16 to Houston, where they will start the competition with a match against Mexico on June 22. There are also group games against Ecuador and Venezuela.
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Johnson was used from the bench in a 3-2 World Cup qualifying win over Dominica on Sunday and had started a 1-0 win over Dominican Republic last Thursday, alongside familiar names from English football such as Bobby De Cordova Reid and Michail Antonio.
This will be Jamaica's third appearance at the Copa America but they finished dead last in the group stage in both 2015 and 2016 without scoring a goal. Head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson has had injury concerns over key players including Andre Blake (knee), Demarai Gray (collarbone), Ethan Pinnock (ankle), Joel Latibeaudiere (calf) and Amari Bell (hamstring)
Chelsea forward Dujuan Richards, an 18-year-old known as Whisper, has also been summoned back to London for treatment on an injury.
Argentina are 7/4 favourites to win the title, followed by Brazil (9/4) and Uruguay (5/1). Johnson and Jamaica are 150/1 outsiders.
