Luton boss Nathan Jones has hit out at the international fixture “scandal” that saw Amari’i Bell travel to the USA to play in a friendly for Jamaica against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
The Hatters left back, played a full 90 minutes and also faced the likes of Angel Di Maria, as the Reggae Boyz lost 3-0 in the World Cup warm-up match.
Messi scored twice late on, and Jones admitted the test against world-class players was good for Bell’s career, but he questioned why a friendly between the two nations was played in Harrison, New Jersey.
“It makes me angry,” said Jones, adding: “I’m delighted he got to play against Lionel Messi, got to play against Angel Di Maria, got to play against Argentina, which is wonderful for his career, but playing a game in America, it just reeks of something for me, I hate it.
“I think it’s the most ridiculous thing in history, something needs to be done as we’ve got players travelling for a friendly match, half-way across the world to play in a game where, I don’t know how many Argentinians or Jamaicans live in New York, but to do a game in there just reeks of one thing and I hate it, I’ve got to be honest, I think it’s scandal, but who am I to go against that?”
Town also had Ethan Horvath out on international duty, with the goalkeeper an unused substitute in the games against Saudi Arabia and Japan, but those games were played in Spain and Germany respectively.
Jones said: “That’s the irony, we’ve got an American who played in Spain, and a Jamaican who played in New Jersey. If America play over in America, I understand why America moved it here, as the majority of players are European, but if Ethan had to travel all the way over there, we understand it as it’s his native country, but Argentina, Jamaica, in New Jersey, there’s only one thing I can think of that they’d go there for.”
Jones added: “I’m delighted for him (Bell) in terms of experience, it will do him the world of good, going up against that talent, I just question the validity of the friendly. They’ve now sorted out the Nations League, so all games are competitive here and you play against good level opposition, but is that making it nearer? Does Lio Messi play his football closer to New Jersey? I’d probably prefer they didn’t have to travel to Argentina, but for me, I just don’t see the validity of it.”
But, despite his expedition to the other side of the pond, Jones said Bell will be available to face Hull as Town return to Championship action on Friday night.
The Hatters boss said: “He’s only got a six hour flight to New York, five, six hour flight, so realistically, he probably would have gone to Dubai, typical footballer in the international break anyway, so it’s not the worst thing in the world.
“He’s had a bit of time off, I would imagine he’s had a couple of shopping trips in New York, so he should be rested because apart from swapping shirts and getting some memorabilia, I can’t see the validity of the friendly.”
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new york is a quicker flight than jamaica or argentina though. so it could have been worse. and you know what you’re getting when you sign internationals from countries outside of europe. the real scandal is sky being allowed to move a game to a friday after an international break.