England almost three weeks after his memorable performance during Rotherham United's 1-0 first leg victory against Everton in the League Cup.

Monday's Daily Telegraph , one of the country's leading quality newspapers, had the 21-year-old sharp shooter featured in Ian Ridley's sports column, `Watching Brief'.

Under the headline `Goater helps give bit-part countries a leading role' Ridley stated how the young Bermudian was helping to lead a surging influx of players from nations of minnow status.

"Placing players in professional leagues overseas is all part of the development plan of unfashionable nations seeking to alter the map of world football, said Ridley. "For Bermuda it is paying off; they have already beaten Haiti and Antigua to get this far (second round of the World Cup).

"The Bermudians' presence, allied to that of Dwight Yorke, of Trinidad and Tobago, at Aston Villa helps allay the fear of some English managers that when the first degree of frost finds its way into the pitch, black players from abroad hide under a divot.'' Goater has paid his dues having floundered in the reserves at Manchester United before moving on to Rotherham, where he took a little time to establish himself and finally exploded onto the scene late last season and again this year. Seven goals thus far and of course that Everton match have attracted the attention of top scouts and indeed most of the nation.

"It seems certain that Rotherham will lose him to a Premier League club sooner rather than later,'' said Ridley. "Lanky strikers with neat feet can be valuable commodities.'' Certainly with comparisons to players like former England striker Gary Lineker being bandied around, Goater appears headed for stardom as a member of a Premier club.

Lineker himself was heard on London radio inquiring about this young goal poacher who had cut his former club down to size. He asked Rotherham coach Phil Henson to describe his match-winning striker.

"Well, he's like you,'' replied Henson. "He's the Gary Lineker of Bermuda.'' The similarities between the two lay in their amazing goal-scoring records for their respective countries.

Goater announced his entrance to the international stage with a goal in his debut performance for Bermuda agaist Barbados in April of 1989 and has since run his tally to 13 goals from only 12 matches.

He still has a ways to go before he is able to match the standard set by Lineker, who found the back of the net 48 times for England in 80 internationals, one short of Bobby Charlton's record. But the fine tuning he receives playing under the harsh English conditions can go some way towards helping him come close or even surpass that mark.

In the column Goater admitted that going from semi-tropical Bermuda to the cooler climes of England bothered him at first.

"Yes I do feel the cold,'' admitted Goater. "But doesn't everybody in England? You don't get used to it but you can't have all the pleasures in life. I go home sometimes and I think as well `God it's hot'.'' Ridley also gave mention to Goater's fellow Bermuda teammates Meshach Wade and Kentoine Jennings, both at Hereford United.

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