Michail Antonio completed his first minutes of football since being involved in a serious car accident in December 2024 on Monday evening, as he came on as a late substitute in Jamaica's 1-0 CONCACAF Gold Cup defeat to Guatemala.
The Hammers' No9 - who is the Club's all-time leading Premier League scorer with 68 goals from 268 games - missed the entire second half of the 2024/25 domestic season, but has impressively recovered from badly breaking his leg and was duly included in Steve McClaren's 26-man squad for the tournament in Canada and the United States.
Though he was absent from the Reggae Boyz's friendlies against Nigeria and Trinidad & Tobago in May, and FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Guatemala and the British Virgin Islands earlier this month, Antonio was deemed fit enough to aid the push for an equaliser in his side's Gold Cup Group C opener in Carson, California.
Guatemala went ahead with what proved to be the winner in the 32nd minute, when Óscar Santis slotted home following a backheel assist from Darwin Lom. Antonio was later introduced as an 85th-minute replacement for Jon Russell, but ultimately the scoreline remained unchanged.
Antonio and Jamaica will now focus their attentions on getting their Gold Cup campaign back on track against Guadeloupe on Friday night (Saturday 21 June, 12.45am UK time), before a clash against Panama on on Tuesday (Wednesday 25 June, 12am UK time).
