Parkes back in El Salvador following ban

After spending time in the football wilderness for kicking an opponent in the back Romeo Parkes said he has learnt his lesson and has learnt from his mistakes.

Parkes, who was playing with the United Soccer League (USL) team Pittsburgh Riverhounds at the time, was kicked out of the league after he kicked an opponent in the back after he was sent off by the referee in their match versus New York Red Bulls II in May last year.

Worst times

The 26-year-old striker was also given a global ban from all competitions by world governing body FIFA which lasted October last year.

The player has since returned to El Salvador and playing for Isidro Metapan, where he played before making the move to the United States.

"It was one of the worst times of my life, during that period," Parkes said. "But I was playing in New York while I was suspended and I never gave up. It was a difficult period but I pulled through."

He said that he has learnt a lot from the experience, although he did not want to go into details about what happened after being punished.

He added that before returning to the Central American side, he was worried that it might have been difficult to get back into professional football after the ban.

Those fears did not last long as Isidro contacted him after the incident and were actually supportive in what he said was his difficult period.

"They called me to come back and play," he said. "They didn't say much, just that I shouldn't worry about what happened, that I should just take it as a lesson."

Since returning to Isidro, Parkes has so far made 11 appearances, and scored five goals. He has also made four appearances for Jamaica and scored one goal. His last call up was for the 2015 Copa America Tournament but he did not play.