Reggae Boyz striker Michail Antonio is one of six football players shortlisted for the newly-created CONCACAF 2021 Men’s Player of the Year Award.
The nominees for the Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year awards were selected based on their performances in sanctioned regional and FIFA matches and competitions.
The other nominees are Canadians Jonathan David and Alphonso Davies, Americans Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie, and Mexican international Hirving Lozano.
Antonio, who also played for West Ham in England, joined the Reggae Boyz last year for their World Cup qualifying campaign. Despite the Boyz crashing out of the campaign last week, Antonio had one of the most impressive performances of the qualifiers, with three goals from six games played.
A baller from youth
The 31-year-old striker was born in Wandsworth, Greater London, to Jamaican parents, making him eligible to join the Jamaican national team.
He began playing football at Tooting & Mitcham United Juniors at 12 years old and remained there for six seasons. He was scouted and invited for a trial by Tottenham Hotspur at 14. But his mother rejected the opportunity on his behalf. The Juniors’ team was independent from Tooting & Mitcham United, whom he later signed for at 17. He made his debut for the club in an away match against Wealdstone at 18, scoring once in a 3–0 victory.
After just a handful of first-team appearances for Tooting & Mitcham United, Antonio signed for England Championship club Reading in 2008 for an undisclosed fee, signing a deal until 2010. Over the two years, Michail Antonio also played for Cheltenham Town, Southampton, and Colchester United – signing on a month’s loan for each team.
In early 2012, Sheffield Wednesday signed Antonio on an emergency loan deal until the end of the season. He scored several goals for the club, which led to a permanent signing. Antonio signed a four-year deal after accepting a third and final bid by Reading. In his first season with the club, he led the scoring charts with nine goals, but an injury later ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Antonio is no stranger to nominations.
In 2014, Antonio signed a three-year contract with Nottingham Forest for an estimated £1.5 million transfer fee. His strong form in Forest’s first five league matches of the season, in which he contributed three goals and three assists, led to him becoming a candidate for the Championship’s Player of the Month award for August of that year.
The following year, Antonio signed for Premier League club West Ham United for around £7 million on a four-year contract with an option for an additional two years. He extended his contract with West Ham several times since his first signing.
In 2020, Antonio scored all four goals in a 4–0 win for West Ham over Norwich City, becoming the first player in West Ham’s history to score four goals in a single Premier League game. He was also the first West Ham player to score four goals in a game since David Cross against Tottenham in September 1981. He finished as West Ham’s joint top-scorer, alongside Tomáš Souček, with ten goals for that season.
In 2016, Antonio was presented with the opportunity to play for Jamaica in the World Cup qualifiers but rejected the offer, saying he harbored an ambition to play for England. At the start of the next World Cup campaign in 2021, he took the opportunity to play for the Jamaica national team, making his debut in September 2021.
Michail Antonio is married and has four children. Just last month, he also signed a new two-and-a-half-year deal with West Ham United, with the option to extend a further year.
