Andre Blake

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Andre Blake
Andre Blake- Philadelphia Union.jpg
Personnel
Surname Andre Jason Blake
birthday November 21, 1990
place of birth May Pen ,  Jamaica
size 193 cm
position goalkeeper
Juniors
Years station
Harbor View FC
Sporting Central Academy
Clarendon College (High School)
2011-2013 University of Connecticut
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
2014– Philadelphia Union 98 (0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals) 2
Jamaica U-17
Jamaica U-20
2014– Jamaica 35 (0)
1 Only league games are given.
As of December 7, 2018

2 As of December 7, 2018

Andre Jason Blake (born November 21, 1990 in May Pen ) is a Jamaican football player in the position of goalkeeper who has been under contract with the Philadelphia Union since 2014 to play in Major League Soccer , the highest North American football league.

Club career

Career start at home

Andre Blake was born on November 21, 1990 in May Pen, the capital of Clarendon Parish , Jamaica , and began his football career at a young age in his homeland. Growing up with six brothers in May Pen, he was active in football from an early age, but did not always hold the position of goalkeeper. Over the years he has played in the youth division of Harbor View FC and the Sporting Central Academy , but at an advanced age he also played for the school football team at Clarendon College , a high school in Chapelton . He was also represented on the cricket team at his school, where he was mostly used as a wicket keeper and team captain . As a football player, he mostly held various positions during a game, initially as a field player, mostly as a striker , to score goals, and then to be ordered into the goal by the coach to prevent further goals. During this time he also found his way into the Jamaican U-17 and U-20 junior teams and was therefore able to recommend himself to international scouts. This was also the time when Blake had to choose a sport, soccer or cricket, and devoted himself more to the sport of soccer. It was only through his U-20 national coach that he gave up his field position and now completely moved back to the position of goalkeeper, which he now held. About his high school soccer coach Patrick "Jackie" Walters, who was his friend Paul Harvey, who came to the United States in the 1980s , a former college soccer player who, after his active career, established a network of contacts in high schools and colleges in the United States -Based on football, Blake made the leap overseas. Before that, he tried his luck in Europe , but had little chance of a career there due to a lack of international appearances.

Transfer to the University of Connecticut

In 2011, he moved to the United States, where he was accepted by the University of Connecticut and was employed in the men's soccer team of the Connecticut Huskies , the university sports department , parallel to his studies there. His freshman year started in all 25 championship games of his team and at the end of the season he had a record of 19 wins, three draws and as many defeats. In these 25 games, he managed 15 to-zero games for the Huskies and was honored several times for this performance. The most historic honor was the election for BIG-EAST Goalkeeper-of-the-Year , whereby he was the first freshman in the history of men's football at the Conference, which has been going on since 1979, to receive this honor. In general, he was the first freshman in the history of the Conference to receive one of the major Conference Awards. Further awards this year were the election to the All-BIG-EAST-First-Team , the NSCAA / Continental-Tire- Third-Team- All-American , the College-Soccer-News- Second-Team-All-American , as well to the Soccer America All Freshman First Team . In 2011 he also set a new university record when he didn’t concede a goal in nine consecutive games (961 minutes and 32 seconds) between September 9 and October 12. Furthermore, he drew level with an already existing record of 15 games in the university record with the most zero games. He also set a new record at the University of Connecticut with a total of 16 shutouts as a team. With an average of 0.39 goals conceded , he finished third in the history of the university's men's soccer team and was the second best goalkeeper in the NCAA this year with this record . His catch quota this game year was 0.888, which meant first place in the BIG EAST and fourth place nationwide.

Even in his sophomore year, Blake remained a regular goalkeeper for the Huskies and was on the field from the start in all 22 championship games. He finished the championship with his team with a record of 17 wins, four defeats and one draw in twelve clear games. Because of his achievements, he was again elected BIG-EAST-Goalkeeper-of-the-Year and NSCAA-First-Team-All-American and was once again in the All-BIG-EAST-First-Team . He was also elected to the Soccer America MVP First Team and College Soccer News Third Team All-American . This year he had an average of 0.50 goals conceded and a catch rate of 0.840. Other awards in his sophomore years included the election of New England Soccer New Player of the Year and the unanimous vote for BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year and the election to Preseason-All-BIG-EAST-Team . In addition, this year he was placed on the watch list for the renowned Hermann Trophy , which is awarded annually to the best female and male college footballers.

In his junior year, Blake played under his coach Ray Reid in 21 championship games, each of which he guarded the Huskies' goal from the start. His average of 0.75 goals conceded earned him only a 24th place in the 2013 NCAA goalkeeper rating. Nonetheless, he achieved individual success this year too, and after ten wins with his team and ten clean sheets, he was awarded the title of NSCAA All America First Team player. Furthermore, his performance was enough for the elections to the NSCAA-All-Northeast-First-Team , the Conference-All-First-Team and the Soccer-America-MVPs-First-Team . Andre Blake was also a finalist to receive the Hermann Trophy , which in 2013, as in the previous year, went to Patrick Mullins from the UMCP . In 2013 he was also elected America-Athletic-Conference -Goalkeeper-of-the-Year , as well as Conference-Preseason-Goalkeeper-of-the-Year and once the Conference-Goalkeeper-of-the-Week . In his 21 missions, he had a record of 10 wins, three losses and eight draws. Because of his performance, he was then awarded a Generation Adidas contract by Major League Soccer , the highest North American soccer league .

Start into professional football

He was then drafted through the MLS SuperDraft 2014 as the first player in the first round of the Philadelphia Union major league soccer franchise . The franchise from Chester , Pennsylvania received the number 1 draft pick in exchange for the number 2 draft pick and an unspecified amount of allocation money from the DC United franchise . Originally intended as the goalkeeper of the Union, he had to give priority to the Algerian national player Raïs M'Bolhi . However, since M'Bolhi also hardly played, the number 1 of the Philadelphia Union of the last two years, Zac MacMath , was the regular force of the franchise this year as well. Blake made his debut for the Philadelphia Union on July 25, 2014 when he was the only full-time player on his team in the friendly against Crystal Palace . After sitting on the bench in almost every championship game and missing only a few games, partly due to international appearances, he made his MLS debut in a 2-0 away defeat by Houston Dynamo on August 15, 2014 when he was played by Coach Jim Curtin was used for the full game. After that, he was still a substitute goalkeeper until the end of the 2014 game year or was not in the official squad in a few games. Already around two months before his league debut, Blake made his competitive debut in the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup 2014 when he played 120 minutes against the Harrisburg City Islanders and after three more cup games moved into the final against Seattle Sounders FC , The Sounders won 3: 1 in extra time. For the Jamaican, the four-round game was the only use in this competition.

His next competitive game after his MLS debut in August 2014 should then take place a full year later. After he mostly only acted as a substitute in the 2015 game year and with John McCarthy , Brian Sylvestre and the aforementioned Raïs M'Bolhi, other goalkeepers were allowed to try their luck in the Philadelphia Union league, Andre Blake had little chance of a breakthrough in the team. After he was not available to the official squad in the first five championship rounds, was out for around one and a half months between May and June 2015 due to a meniscus injury and then in July also missed three championship games due to international appearances, he only got the at the end of August 2015 Opportunity to prove yourself in Major League Soccer. On August 22, 2015, he played in a 1-0 away win over Montreal Impact , when Didier Drogba was just making his debut for the opponent, for the first time in a year in the top North American football league. After another assignment in the subsequent league game against New England Revolution , he missed the following championship game due to an international match and was again on the bench in the next two games without being used, before he was back as a regular on September 25 for the remaining four championship games until the end of the season His team's goal. One of the most impressive games he completed on September 25 in another game against New England Revolution, when he set a new team record at the Philadelphia Union with ten held or blocked balls. Like a year before, he and the team made it into the final of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup . In the 2015 game year , he sat on the bench in the fourth and fifth round games without a stint, missed the quarter-finals due to an engagement with the Jamaican national team, sat on the bench again in the semifinals and only played in the final against Sporting Kansas City . The match ended in a 7-8 defeat on penalties for the Philadelphia Union .

In the MLS game year 2016 at the latest , Blake rose to the clear number 1 of the Philadelphia Union. He was used in 32 of the 34 league games over the full playing time and only missed two games due to appearances in the national team of his home country. In these two games Matt Jones and John McCarthy took over the position of goalkeeper. After the second championship round, Blake was elected to the MLS Team of the Week and played in the MLS All-Star Game 2016 against Arsenal on July 28, 2016 . At the end of the game year, when the Union took part in the season-closing play-offs for the first time in years, but was eliminated in the knockout round, Andre Blake, who had already been in his before moving to the United States Homeland has often been named Jamaica's best soccer goalkeeper, MLS Goalkeeper of the Year , and MLS Best XI . By then, he had 99 balls held or blocked with a catch rate of 66% and nine clear games in his 32 league appearances. There were also two appearances in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup 2016 , from which the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals after the penalty shoot-out against New England Revolution. Especially in and after the 2016 game year, Blake was courted by various European teams, with speculation that the goalkeeper would soon leave for Europe as early as the summer of 2016. By October 2016, Blake's possible future employers had become more concrete, with KRC Genk being rated as the future club of the Jamaican, who not only stood out for his performance at the Philadelphia Union, but also in the national team. On October 31, 2016, he successfully completed the Generation Adidas program. The Jamaican International has not yet changed clubs (as of December 20, 2016).

National team career

Inserts for U-17 and U-20

During his high school years in Jamaica, Andre Blake took part in games in the Jamaican U-17 and U-20 youth team. With the U-17 he took part in the qualification for the CONCACAF U-17 championship in 2007 . After taking third place in qualifying and hosting the finals together with Honduras , Blake also took part in this finals and retired from Group B with his home country as last-placed. He was also represented with the U-20 between July 2008 and January 2009 in the qualification for the CONCACAF U-20 Championship 2009 . The team managed to win the first and second round group phase in the third round group phase, which Jamaica also finished as a winner and thus qualified for the finals in March 2009 in Trinidad and Tobago . The team coached by Donovan Duckie dropped out of the current tournament prematurely in the group stage as third-placed group A. After various other missions for the U-17 and U-20 national teams, it took a few years before Blake was considered for a national team again.

Debut and first successes with the men

Shortly after his signing from the MLS franchise Philadelphia Union, Blake made his debut in the Jamaican men's national team when he was used for the full game in a 2-0 friendly win over Barbados by Winfried Schäfer . Throughout 2014, Blake made nine international matches, including five friendlies, one of which was not recognized by FIFA as an official match. The remaining four games relate to the 2014 Caribbean Soccer Championship , in which Blake took part with the Jamaican national team in November 2014. Host Jamaica won the title for the sixth time in history. Blake was used in all three group games of his team, as well as in the final victory over the record winner Trinidad and Tobago . He was also awarded the Golden Gloves Award as the goalkeeper of the tournament . By winning the Caribbean Championship in 2014, Jamaica qualified for the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2015 . In this tournament, in which Jamaica made it to the final and only lost 3-1 to Mexico , Blake took part alongside Dwayne Miller and Ryan Thompson as one of three goalkeepers of the Jamaican national team, but was not used himself.

Around ten months have passed since his last international match when Blake played in two CONCACAF qualifying games for the 2018 World Cup against Nicaragua at the beginning of September 2015 . After another friendly against South Korea in mid-October 2015, he played Jamaica's second group game in the four-round group phase of World Cup qualification. After he also played in the third and fourth group matches at the end of March 2016, Winfried Schäfer brought him into Jamaica's 23-man squad that took part in the 2016 Copa América Centenario in the United States . As a regular goalkeeper, he played all three of his team's games and retired with the Jamaicans, goalless and winless, in the group stage as the last of Group C from the current tournament. His two subsequent international appearances were the fifth and sixth group game in the World Cup qualification, which Blake with his home country then ended early as the last in Group B. After the resulting expulsion of Winfried Schäfer, who shortly before caused a scandal on television, Theodore Whitmore , who had already acted as Jamaican national coach several times in the past , took over the post of head coach.

Under Whitmore, Andre Blake played Jamaica's second and third group game in qualifying for the 2017 Caribbean Cup , making Jamaica one of the group winners for the 2017 finals in the United States and also for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, also in the United States .

successes

with Philadelphia Union
with Jamaica
individual successes

Personal

Andre Blake has been in possession of the green card since summer 2015 , which means that his team got a place for a foreign player again.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jamaica's 40 Player Provisional List to Copa Centenario ( Memento of the original from December 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed December 20, 2016 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jamaicafootballfederation.com
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i How Union GK Andre Blake conquered hurdles to become a star | THE WORD , accessed December 20, 2016
  3. ↑ Four Players Sign Generation adidas Contracts , accessed December 14, 2016
  4. ^ Union take Andre Blake in 1st pick , accessed December 20, 2016
  5. ↑ Philadelphia Union pick Andre Blake number one in MLS SuperDraft , accessed December 20, 2016
  6. ↑ DC United selects Steven Birnbaum with 2nd overall pick in 2014 MLS SuperDraft , accessed December 20, 2016
  7. ↑ Union showcase a few new faces in Friday night friendly against Crystal Palace at PPL Park (English), accessed on December 20, 2016
  8. ^ Houston Dynamo 2, Philadelphia Union 0 | MLS Match Recap , accessed December 20, 2016
  9. ↑ Andre Blake makes strong claim for Philadelphia Union starting goalkeeper job after win in Montreal , accessed December 20, 2016
  10. ↑ Union draw with New England as Blake sets single-game club save record , accessed December 20, 2016
  11. ↑ MLS All-Stars 1, Arsenal 2 | 2016 AT&T MLS All-Star Game Match Recap , accessed December 20, 2016
  12. ↑ Andre Blake of Philadelphia Union wins MLS Goalkeeper of the Year , accessed December 20, 2016
  13. ↑ MLS Best XI revealed: Who was the best at each position in 2016? (English), accessed December 20, 2016
  14. ^ Andre Blake Named to MLS 2016 Best XI , accessed on December 20, 2016
  15. ↑ Philadelphia Union: How Long can we keep Andre Blake? (English), accessed December 20, 2016
  16. ↑ MLS Rumors: Andre Blake Set to Leave Philadelphia Union , accessed December 20, 2016
  17. ↑ Andre Blake graduates Generation adidas program , accessed December 14, 2016
  18. ↑ Generation adidas graduates seven-member Class of 2016 , accessed on December 14, 2016
  19. ↑ Union rookie goalkeeper Andre Blake called up to Jamaican national team for pair of friendlies , accessed December 20, 2016
  20. ↑ Andre Blake and Jamaica defeats Trinidad and Tobago in shootout to win 2014 Caribbean Cup , accessed on December 20, 2016
  21. ↑ Jamaica sets Copa America roster , accessed December 20, 2016
  22. ↑ World Cup qualification: Winfried Schäfer is about to end in Jamaica - TV scandal: Schäfer is about to end in Jamaica , accessed on December 20, 2016
  23. ↑ Bulls Abroad: Theodore Whitmore appointed Jamaica coach , accessed December 20, 2016
  24. ↑ Andre Blake receives his Green Card , accessed December 14, 2016
personal data
SURNAME Blake, Andre
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Blake, Andre Jason (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Jamaican soccer goalkeeper
DATE OF BIRTH November 21, 1990
PLACE OF BIRTH May Pen , Jamaica