qualifying tournament from which three teams will book places in the 1997 Youth World Cup in Egypt.

The attack has been boosted by the inclusion of three players who were not part of the squad for the recent international tournament at National Stadium -- Travis Wilkinson of PHC, Sergio Augustus, a utility player from Wolves, and Davon DeGraffe of Devonshire Colts.

"We've added more punch to our attack because there was not much attacking punch when we played in the international tournament,'' explained Mark Trott who, along with Danny Seymour, will assist head coach Fred (Pinks) Lewis in Trinidad.

Bermuda have three group matches initially, beginning with the United States on Sunday and followed by clashes against Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic next Tuesday and Thursday.

There are three groups of four and the winners of each group, plus the best of the second place teams will advance to another group. Those four teams will then play a round robin with the top three going to the World Youth Championships next year.

"The team has progressed extremely well,'' said Trott yesterday.

In the international tournament Bermuda failed to win but came closest to handing tournament winners Glasgow Rangers their only loss. Bermuda were leading the Scots 2-0 before the visitors came back to draw 2-2.

"We're at the stage right now where we should be peaking by the time the first match arrives,'' Trott explained.

"The enthusiasm is high and if we approach the games according to the way we played here we stand a very good chance. We have the bulk of that squad plus three new additions.'' The squad will be captained by defender John Barry Nusum while Joey Rego and Alale Furbert are the vice captains.

Squad: Ralph Bean, Garon Dowling, Jameiko Jennings, Kevin Richards, Jelani Scott, Khomeini Talbot, Omar Butterfield, Alale Furbert, John Barry Nusum, Ricky Saltus, Travis Wilkinson, Khano Smith, Nigel Burgess, Daniel Jennings, Joey Rego, Nathan Samuels, Devaun DeGraffe, Sergio Augustus. Officials -- Gregory Grimes (head of delegation), Fred Lewis (head coach), Danvers Seymour (assistant coach), Mark Trott (assistant coach, equipment), Curtis Place (medic).

RARIN' TO GO -- Members of Bermuda's youth soccer squad were in high spirits as they finalised their preparation last night for this week's trip to Trinidad.