Sheffield Wednesday man's semi-final crash-out delivers good news for Owls

One of Sheffield Wednesday's on-duty internationals tasted heartbreak in the semi-final of the CONCACAF Nations League on Thursday evening - but will not return back to the Owls' international break camp immediately.
By Alex Miller
Published 22nd Mar 2024, 10:12 BST
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Di'Shon Bernard earned his 10th cap for the Raggae Boyz in a 3-1 defeat to the USA in New Jersey, Oxford United left-back Greg Leigh having given them the lead before a last-gasp own goal from Cory Burke took things to extra-time. Haji Wright - a name well-known to Wednesday fans this season due to his star man status with Coventry City - scored twice in extra-time to take the home side to the final against Mexico.

Wednesday supporters hoping the defeat would allow Bernard to jet back to South Yorkshire to step back into training with the Owls will be disappointed, though Jamaica's defeat does return a positive for his club side.

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The young defender's flourishing international career will continue as Jamaica head to Dallas and the AT&T Stadium in the coming days ahead of a third-place play-off against fellow semi-final losers Panama, who lost 3-0 despite having had the majority of possession and out-stripping the victors 18 to six on shots taken.

The third-place play-off will take place on Sunday with a 10pm kick-off UK time, leaving more time for Bernard to make a return to Sheffield ahead of their Championship clash with Swansea City on Easter Friday. Had Jamaica beaten USA and qualified for the final, he would have played on Monday evening, leaving a tighter travel and recovery time ahead of the visit of the Swans.

“I like it,” Wednesday boss Danny Röhl said of a total of seven call-ups from the Wednesday squad - though Ian Poveda later pulled out of the Colombia side through injury. “As a manager, of course, on one side you're happy and on the other you think 'Oh, maybe they can stay here for recovery and training'. But I am used to this from Munich, sometimes there was only one player in the training squad in the international break and 25 in the national teams!

"We can handle this, next week is special, we will find a good balance in making our players ready for the final games. From November until now is a long, long time with a lot of games. It is good to have some time for rest and individual stuff. I am very proud of the players who have improved so much that the national teams have called them up."