Veteran Mariappa still willing to give his all
Published:Saturday | June 17, 2023 | 1:01 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
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AT AGE 36, most professional footballers are thinking of retiring. Reggae Boyz defender Adrian Mariappa is, however, showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. Mariappa, who captained the Reggae Boyz in their international friendly against...
AT AGE 36, most professional footballers are thinking of retiring. Reggae Boyz defender Adrian Mariappa is, however, showing no signs of slowing down any time soon.
Mariappa, who captained the Reggae Boyz in their international friendly against Qatar on Thursday, made his debut back in 2012 and has gone on to make 64 appearances at the senior level. The veteran central defender, while speaking after the Reggae Boyz 2-1 defeat by Qatar, stated that he doesn’t look too far ahead, but rather, focuses on the tasks directly in front of him, which, according to him, has kept him in good stead so far in his career.
“I’m fully aware that I can’t play forever, even if your head tells you that you can. At the end of the day, I try not to look too far forward and try to just enjoy these games and give everything that I can for Jamaica while I’m here. I’ve come off the back of some good performances for my club team, so I’m concentrating on the here and now, and that’s kept me in good stead so far,” he stated.
Heimir Hallgrimsson, head coach of the Reggae Boyz, also lauded the impact that Mariappa has had on the team, while adding that he along with his coaching staff aren’t a unit that really considers the age of the players, as once they are good enough they will get the opportunity to showcase their talent.
Not playing regularly
“Normally, when you look at some players, you look at their numbers and how old they are. We (coaching staff) have said we don’t care how old the players are, whether they’re 17 or 35, 36 or 37. After the Mexico match (June 14, 2022) he (Adrian Mariappa) was not playing regularly and in the back of my mind I was thinking maybe his time had come for the national team. He’s in much better shape now than he was when we played Mexico. This is something strange and I’m going to get his diet,” a laughing Hallgrimsson revealed.
As part of his current role within the team, Mariappa believes that getting the younger players to feel welcome whilst helping to create an environment that brings out the best from each player, is among the things he tries to achieve, in tandem with the coaching staff.
“We do this by having dialogue with them every day, while getting to know them as people. As an experienced player there is no special thing that I have to do, it’s just making them feel welcome and try to get the best out of them and make the environment one that produces that,” Mariappa added.