Bermuda's under-23 soccer team crashed out of the Olympic qualifiers in Panama City last night -- despite a creditable draw against Cuba.

Only a victory at the Rommel Fernandez Stadium would have been enough to keep their Sydney dream alive after their 1-0 defeat by the host nation on Wednesday night.

And Bermuda went desperately close to a winner on the half hour when a 35-yard rocket from the left foot of midfielder Thomas Carter rattled the upright.

"It was a screamer and the crowd all went up expecting to see it go in, but it hit the post and came back out again,'' said head coach Mark Trott early this morning. According to Trott, Bermuda had slightly the better of things against what was a moderate side by normal Cuban standards.

"We went all out to attack, playing three up front, Rohaan Simons, John Barry Nusum and Steve Astwood, and four in midfield,'' added Trott.

"We had a few half chances but nothing really bounced for us. I don't like to blame the pitch, but it just did not allow us to play the type of football we wanted to.

"I've been told that Panama haven't lost at home for two years and maybe this surface has a lot to do with that.

"The frustrating thing is that many people have told us we have the best team here, but we need to give them a better chance of succeeding by preparing better.

"The Panamanians have been excellent hosts and if we had been here for 10 days instead of arriving three days before our first match, maybe we would have done better.'' Co-coach Dennis Brown felt the team had not played as well as they could, but thought they had nevertheless surprised both Cuba and Panama with their quality.

He picked out defenders Joey Rego, David Thomas and Kofi Dill as the team's outstanding players on the night, along with goalkeeper Jay Smith.

"Every time we play in a tournament like this, people say we have the talent, but there is something missing,'' added Brown.

"I think we have to give these players a more realistic chance of succeeding.

We are playing against guys who have been preparing for two years when we've been preparing for six months.

"It's no good the Government and the association paying lip service to the needs of the players -- we need more games, more exposure and we have to start putting the players first because they are the most important people.'' Bermuda: J.Smith, J.Rego, D.Thomas, K.Dill, J.Jennings, T.Carter, D.Ming, T.Russell, R.Simons, J.Nusum, S.Astwood.