‘It brings out the best in players’ – Inter Miami’s Ian Fray praises Javier Mascherano’s fiery passion for sparking MLS Cup run, eyes Jamaica’s World Cup push

GOAL: Let’s dive into Jamaica a little bit. You decided to join the Jamaican national team. What’s that whole experience been like?

FRAY: I had dual citizenship between the U.S. and Jamaica. And recently, Jamaica has been going through a lot, and my Dad’s whole side of the family is from Jamaica, and a lot of my family still lives there. I have a lot of love for the country, so I decided, yeah, to go with Jamaica. And it’s honestly been, it’s been amazing. We’re going to try to qualify for the World Cup in March. 

GOAL: When you visit there what makes Jamaican culture unique? 

FRAY: Everything. Jamaicans are the friendliest people. You can go there without knowing anything, any race, and they’re welcoming you. They’re showing you their culture.

GOAL: You play for a high-profile team. When you come to the Jamaica national team, do you get peppered with questions about what it’s like and getting signed jerseys?

FRAY: I mean, it’s what you expect from anyone. Anyone on any team in the world, even if you went to the Spanish national team, they’re going to be asking for autographs of these guys, too [Laughs]. So it’s not unique to Jamaica, but yeah, of course.

GOAL: What’s the funniest question you’ve ever gotten from a Jamaican teammate about Inter Miami?

FRAY: Funniest question? Yeah, they’ll ask me for anything like, ‘Oh, can you get a pair of socks [from Messi and Co.]? It’s just jokes, you know, like Jamaicans, they’re full of jokes.

GOAL: Last one about Jamaica, the World Cup draw is Friday. Are you paying attention to that at all? And like, when you look ahead to, you know, your qualification hopes, like, what is the expectation there? How do you get to where you guys want to be?

FRAY: Yeah, I’m not so much paying attention to the draw, because we’re not in it yet, but for March, the goal is to qualify. And yeah, we will qualify.