Bermuda women’s football team coach Naquita Robinson has set her sights on a victorious start to the Fifa World Cup qualifying campaign away against Cayman Islands tonight (8pm Bermuda time).

Robinson is hoping to take the game to her opponents and lay siege to their goal but is mindful of keeping things tight at the back given Bermuda will be fielding a debutant goalkeeper in the match.

“Of course we want to win our first game, so we’re going to approach it with an attacking mindset,” Robinson told The Royal Gazette.

“But this does not mean neglecting our defensive duties and our responsibility on the defensive side. We have two rookie goalkeepers, so again we have to make sure that we make the right decisions in the defensive third.

“It’s their home game and they’ll have a crowd. We have to make sure that we understand that position and know that we have to win the game, no one’s going to give us anything.”

Bermuda have not played a match of this magnitude since December 2023, when they lost out on a spot in the Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup play-offs.

“The players can’t wait to get back on the field,” the coach said.

“The squad has changed a little bit. We’ve got some younger players in but the majority of the team that was in Dominican Republic in 2023 is still around, which is really exciting.

“We’re ready to go. Players are in good form, good shape and obviously they’ve been training since 2023, with all of them still involved in football. It’s not like we're bringing anybody on board that's not been doing anything.”

When the two teams last met in February 2022, Robinson’s side ran out 6-0 winners but the coach is taking nothing for granted despite Bermuda (14) being 14 places higher than Cayman (32) in the Concacaf women's rankings.

“Regardless of ranking, you have to respect the opponent,” she said.

“You show up to play the opponent rather than the ranking. What we look to do is play our brand of football and play each opponent according to how we want to play.

“Our last result against Cayman was a really good result for us, but it’s been three years since then. Everybody keeps improving so we want to make sure that we don't take anybody for granted.”

Bermuda begin their World Cup journey without two key members of the defence as goalkeeper Zakhari Turner and central defender Taznae Fubler have called time on their international careers.

Turner’s absence leaves Taya Rodrigues, who has excelled at junior national levels, to fight for the goalkeeper position with Sharifa Crockwell, from Dandy Stars. Both keepers have never played for the senior national team.

“Zakhari Turner and defender Taznae Fubler have resigned from the national programme for their own reasons,” Robinson said.

“We move forward, this is an amateur sport in our country and players have to do what they feel is best for their lives at the time.

“They have given a lot over the years and we’re thankful for their contributions, but they felt that now was the time to move on and to look in other directions for other things. We have to respect that and be good with what we have.

“We have players who have come into the positions. The goalkeepers are working really hard and we have centre backs that will come in and fit in seamlessly.

“You always miss players of their quality, but you can’t live in that space. You have to work and fix it and we have done that.”

After the match against Cayman tonigh, Bermuda will be on their travels again with an away game against Guatemala awaiting them on Monday.