Tour absentees could be a blessing, says Kenny
Touring Central America without some key figures of Bermuda's recent football success could be a blessing in disguise.
This is national coach Kenny Thompson's thinking as he and his 20-member senior national squad leave the Island this morning for three friendlies against Panama and Nicaragua.
The unavailability of overseas-based pro strikers Shaun Goater and John Barry Nusum - who have been in goal-scoring touch for Bermuda - plus Kevin Richards (at university in the USA) and local players like Meshach Wade, Troy Hall, Zane Hendrickson and Kofi Dill, opens the door for others to impress ahead of the country's second-round World Cup qualifiers against El Salvador in June.
“I have a lot of faith in the players who are going. It's a situation where we are missing players like Shaun, John Barry, Troy and Meshach and it gives others the opportunity to show what they can do at this level and to try to cement their places in the team.
“It's good because, obviously, we know what Shaun and those guys can give us but this affords younger players to put us in a position where we develop a squad that's capable of handling absences,” noted Thompson, speaking after putting his players through their final work-out yesterday morning at the National Sports Centre.
Among the newest additions making the trip are Somerset Trojans' goal-keeper Timmy Figueiredo and PHC Zebras' Blenn Bean and Robert Richardson.
Regarding the latter's call-up, the coach explained Wade and Dill's absences paved the way for young Richardson's inclusion.
“We were a little bit short on defenders and Robert has had some good performances with PHC and he has also played in Bermuda's Under-17 World Cup team. This gives him an opportunity to develop a bit further internationally and to see what our set-up is like.”
The biggest boost for the Bermudians, however, is the presence of former Premiership striker Kyle Lightbourne who flew in from England to join his countrymen this weekend. The retired pro is expected to bring significant experience both in his attacking role and in general given his lengthy career.
“Kyle's inclusion is important and we're very pleased about it. He has had an impact already on the level of the training session, giving pointers to players about little things that make a big difference based on his experience as a professional.
“We expect that contribution to continue because he brings not only technical knowledge but also on-field experience that can help the others,” noted Thompson.
Regarding the tour's overall mission, the coach emphasised the importance of Bermuda's players acclimatising to Central American conditions.
“It's extremely important from the standpoint of playing conditions, the weather, the crowd reaction and getting used to large crowds. I expect the Nicaragua matches to be a bit above sea level and that Nicaragua will be highly motivated based on their two losses here.
“It's a very important exercise for us, in preparation for El Salvador, that the players become accustomed to the playing environment in that region.
“We're looking to see how the guys handle themselves in a less-than-comfortable situation. It will be a change from here in Bermuda.”
Thompson said his game strategy would remain a mixture of trying to get positive results while experimenting with various line-ups and switching player positions.
“These matches give us the opportunity to look certain things and to rotate players a bit. We are taking 20 players and all 20 will see action. So we will try different combinations of players,” he confirmed.
“It's always important that we look for good results but, because of the friendly nature of these matches, we have the flexibility to try some things and that's been excellent in our run-up so far.
“We made six or seven changes between the first and second matches here against Nicaragua and we still got a good result in the second game. That was very pleasing - that we can make changes like that and still get the results - because, as I said before, the depth of the squad is going to be very important.”
Bermuda oppose Panama, ranked 127th in the world, on Wednesday before moving on to tackle Nicaragua on Friday and Sunday. They defeated the latter here 3-0 and 2-1 almost a month ago.
Despite knowing little personally about the Panamanians, Thompson said some of his players toured that country before as part of Bermuda's Under-23 team and, hopefully, would bring that experience to bear at senior level.
He added that while Bermuda are 32 places below Panama on FIFA's rankings they will treat their hosts like all other opposition - with respect but not awe.
Squad: Timmy Figueiredo, Dwayne Adams, David Thomas, Jamaul Boyles, Kentoine Jennings, Shannon Burgess, Robert Richardson, Stanton Lewis, Blenn Bean, Ottis Steede, Clevon Hill, Kaiwon Dill Damon Ming, Domico Coddington, Khano Smith, Kyle Lightbourne, Ralph Bean, Carlos Smith, Rohaan Simons and Stephen Astwood.
Officials: Mark Trott (head of delegation); David Sabir (BFA general secretary); Kenny Thompson (coach); Michael Rawlins (physiotherapist) and Ron Lightbourne (interpreter).