Bermuda's Under-23 soccer team, riding a roller-coaster of emotions recently, have anything but a joyride in store for them when they compete in the first round of the Pan American Games in Argentina next month.

With 14 wins under coach Mark Trott, including an inspirational 1-0 victory over a combined United States Pan-Am/Olympic team in Orlando on Monday, Bermuda will face a formidable task after being drawn in a round-robin group alongside world champions Brazil.

Costa Rica and Chile are the other two nations in their Pan-Am group.

The Under-23s will open their schedule against Chile on March 10, followed by the brilliant Brazilians two days later. Bermuda then close out the first round against Costa Rica, also expected to be a difficult side, on March 15.

When informed by The Royal Gazette late yesterday which countries Bermuda would meet in Argentina, Trott remained upbeat and unfazed by the news.

"What can I say? You've got to take every opponent as they come,'' he said from his hotel room. "Obviously South American teams present a very difficult proposition because they'll all be able to handle the ball and play well.

We'll have to review each team.'' The most pressing items on Trott's agenda at the moment are the two remaining games in Florida with one against the US Under-21s this afternoon (4.00 Bermuda time) and a final tune-up against German League First Division outfit Bayer Leverkusen on Friday.

The Under-23s held two workouts at their University of Central Florida training site yesterday, roughly a 40-minute bus ride from the team's hotel.

Spirits soared in the Bermuda camp following Monday's hard-fought triumph.

Sean Simmons, a student at the University of Charleston recruited for the match, came off the bench to net the winner in the 85th minute at the Seminole County Sports Complex.

"I'm pleased,'' said Trott, "because it was our first match together as a group and it was excellent to see the players come together as a unit. There are definitely some things we need to improve on, but basically the unit came together and they really played pretty good.'' The Americans completely dominated Bermuda for all but the final moments of the match, overwhelming them with a flurry of shots (28-2 in favour of the US).

Although 'keeper Troy Hall stood tall, Trott is expected to employ all three goalkeepers on the tour. Tim Figureido and Dwayne (Streaker) Adams are expected to get the call for the final two friendlies.

Bermuda's performance on Monday didn't just draw raves from Trott.

"Their gamesmanship really stood out,'' said US Under-23 official Jim Froslid. "I mean, they might not have had the best 11 players on the field compared to the US, but they won the game. Even though they were getting pummelled, they found enough to get down in the 85th minute and score a goal.

It was pretty impressive.'' Froslid acknowledged Bermuda would be hard-pressed to repeat a similar performance in Argentina because of the tough draw, but said they shouldn't be completely ruled out.

"It's going to be tough, they have a difficult draw with Brazil and even Costa Rica has a very impressive team,'' he said. "Their backs are going to be against the wall, but if they play like they did (on Monday) anything can happen. Everything clicked for them...they had a little bit of luck with us hitting the post a couple of times and the ball either deflecting away or whatever, but they played really hard.

"When a team plays like that anything can happen.'' Said Trott: "We defended really well. I always emphasised to them that we would have to take advantage of our counter attacking and the goal came from a counter attack.'' Most of the players on the American Under-21 side come from the Under-20 squad which failed to qualify for next month's world championships.

"I think it's going to be a little more open game because of the level. The Under-21s aren't as powerful,'' said Froslid. "These guys will be hungry to play because they haven't played a game yet and they've been down here for five days.''