FRISCO - Jamaica was eliminated from Copa America 2015 after the group stage, but one player will never forget playing in the prestigous tournament.
Jamaica lost all three of their games in the tournament, but in the country's final match against Argentina, FC Dallas defender Je-Vaughn Watson found himself marking one of the best players in the world: Lionel Messi.
For Watson, it was a once in a lifetime experience.
"He’s a good player, an excellent player," said Watson. "Playing against him, it makes you want to push to the next level. It was a good experience for us to just be on the field with him. He’s just unbelievable."
"[It's] great to see one of our own in a high competition there in South America," said head coach Oscar Pareja. "It’s a very special stage. It helps him as a player, and helps us as a club."
Watson says the atmosphere is getting better in America and the FC Dallas fans are some of the noisiest in MLS, but in South America, it's on another level.
"The fans are great because they love soccer," said Watson. "That's South America. People want a shirt, want a shoe, anything they can get, just because it’s from a soccer player."
"Whenever you’re driving by in a bus, it’s like chaos," said Watson. "People are running towards the bus."
Although Jamaica dropped a 1-0 decision in each of their games, Watson says the performance from the team was promisimg. After playing better than most expected in Copa America, fans of Jamaica are expecting big things from the Reggae Boyz at the Gold Cup in July.
"It's a motivational push for us to play against teams like Argentina," said Watson. "Everyone is expecting a lot from Jamaica now, so we have to bring the same intensity and handle it the same way we did in the Copa America."
Now back in Frisco, the experience of the 31-year-old is a welcome sight for an FC Dallas team that is one of the youngest in MLS.
