They might not be be favourites to qualify for Germany 2006, but Bermuda has found itself, for now, as the centre of attention on the world stage.

A decade has passed since the Island?s best-ever qualifying campaign ? an appearance in the penultimate qualifying round for the USA ?94 finals ? and the hero of that campaign Kenny Thompson has found himself being interviewed in the lead story on the World Cup website.

?Yes, the USA 94 qualifying round was our best performance to date, but we?re going to go one better this year,? the national coach confidently told FIFAworldcup.com.

Bermuda, erroneously described in the article as ?the most easterly of the Caribbean islands?, is one of the smallest nations competing in the World Cup preliminary competition ? hence the international interest.

?We?ve got a decent pool of players. It?s important we make best use of our size,? he insisted.

?Compared to other nations we?re restricted in what we can do, but on the other hand you can turn it to your advantage. We?re like a club in that we train every day and we?re a close-knit group. Everyone knows everyone else, the players are close friends and they meet every day, so we have a very harmonious set-up.

?We?re proud to be members of the FIFA family as it means even a tiny country such as Bermuda has the chance of recognition on the international stage and we also get to learn about other cultures, which is fantastic.

?It?s always difficult to predict results, but our aim is to play well and put on a display for our fans to enjoy.

?Expectations on the Island are soaring just like in Brazil ? the people here don?t care who we?re playing, they just want to see us win. They?re passionate football fans here in Bermuda.

?We all have our dreams. We?re setting off on the same road to the 2006 World Cup, so why can?t we dream the same dream??