BERMUDA'S Under-17 football team left the island this week for Trinidad to compete in the first stage of qualifying for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup which will held in Nigeria in 2009.

Bermuda will take on hosts Trinidad as well as Aruba and St. Martin in Group D of the Caribbean Football Union Youth Cup (CFU) which is serving to be the first stage of qualifying for the 2009 finals. Some 21 teams will be in the tournament in Trinidad which runs from July 21 to August 10.

Bermuda Under-17 head coach Mark Wade said: "Our confidence has been boosted after competing in the Schwan's USA Cup earlier this month and the Dallas Cup in April.

"The American teams tend to be a bit more physical and we need to get used to that as we're generally a country of small people. The players musty learn to cope with playing against bigger and stronger players.

"Last summer we reached the quarter-finals of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) before losing to Trinidad. We're hoping with the preparation we've had we can improve on that."

Wade added: "We wanted to get more international matches in before the qualifiers but that didn't come to fruition. Our first match is against Trinidad and a lot will depend on that game. The first match is always important and we'll be looking for revenge against Trinidad ¿ the players are up for it."

Bermuda will play their three matches at the University of the West Indies Field in St. Augustine.

The tournament in Trinidad will have six groups and those winners, along with the two best second-place finishers, will progress to the quarterfinals on August 6. The semi-finals and finals will take place at the Marvin Lee Stadium in Macoya on August 8 and 10.

The winner and runner-up from the CFU Youth Cup will progress to the Concacaf Under-17 Championship that will take place in Mexico of April next year.

Last week Bermuda narrowly missed out on qualifying for the next stage of the Under-20 World Cup after their three matches in the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean first round Group B qualification.

Bermuda's youngsters competed against Jamaica, hosts Cayman and Puerto Rico.

They drew Cayman 0-0 in the opening match and then went down to Caribbean powerhouse Jamaica 4-0 and then this past weekend they beat Puerto Rico 2-1.

Jamaica claimed the first-place crown in Cayman ¿ all the games being played at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex.

The Reggae Boyz began group play with a 1-0 win over Puerto Rico before topping Bermuda 4-0 and then concluding with a 3-0 triumph against Cayman.

Jamaica will join the other first round groups winners ¿ Antigua & Barbuda (Group E), Haiti (Group A), St. Kitts & Nevis (Group C) and St. Vincent & The Grenadines (Group D) as well as with four best second-place finishers namely Aruba, Dominican Republic, Grenada and Netherlands Antilles, in the Caribbean second round which will consist of three groups of three scheduled for September 2008.

The top team from each triangular along with the best second-place team will progress to the Caribbean final round scheduled for November 2008. Trinidad & Tobago will host the Concacaf Under 20 championship which is tentatively scheduled for January/February 2009.