Bermuda?s Under-17 national soccer team head off to Havana, Cuba tomorrow for the Under-17 preliminary World Cup qualifying tournament.

The teenage Bermudians have been grouped with St.Vincent, Guyana and hosts Cuba in Group B in what is expected to provide a formidable challenge.

The Islanders take on St.Vincent in their opening group match next Wednesday, Guyana in their second fixture on August 13 before closing out a hectic three-match, four-day spell against Cuba.

Under-17 national coach Ray Jones is the first to admit his team face an ?uphill battle.?

?Basically we are going down there to win. We know it?s going to be an uphill battle as this will be the first time most of the players on the team will have been exposed to international football on foreign soil,? said Jones.

?That?s going to be one of our major challenges ? getting the players to adjust and play at the next level away from home. But we have stressed to them that we are going down there to win and that this is not a tour and that we are carrying the burden of the country and need to do well.?

The squad have undergone five weeks of preparation including a two-match warm-up series against visiting DC United just prior to Cup Match.

The youngsters came away with a 1-1 draw and 1-0 win from those matches, results from which Jones hopes the local players will have gained valuable experience.

?I think when you look at our group, Cuba are the slight favourites as they will be playing at home and traditionally they do well in this age bracket. But we don?t play them first and so I think that will be good for us in that we can achieve a good result in our first match (St.Vincent) and then go from strength to strength from there,? added Jones.

All games will be played on the outskirts of Havana at the Estadio Moron with the eventual winners of Group B advancing to the next phase of World Cup qualifiers to be held next month at a venue which will be determined by the final outcome of next week?s tournament.

Jones added: ?All of the games are going to be important but I think the final match against Cuba is going to be a little tricky with the home crowd behind them.

?There are no players from ?There are no players from the previous Under-17 national team on the current team so basically this is a brand new squad.?

Bermuda squad: Clyde Darrell, Randy Broadbelt, Shane Diezt, Sean Perinchief, Marquel Waldron, Corey Trott, Dashae Simmons, Oronde Bascome, Patraic Castle, Shayne Hollis, Akeem Albouy, Jordan Commissiong, Jason Smith, Bunnya Taylor, Glenn Walker, Jahnai Watson, Jade Foggo, Randy Robinson, Ray Jones (head coach), Mark Wade (assistant coach) and Gregory Simons (physio).

Bermuda?s Under-20 national team, meanwhile, head off to Jamaica next Monday to compete in the Under-20 World Cup qualifying tournament.

During the 2002 Under-17 World Cup qualifying tournament, Bermuda, under coach Kenny Thompson, advanced to the second round of qualifiers before being ousted by Cuba (2-0) at Campo La Polar in Havana.

The bulk of the previous Under-17 national team now make up the Under-20 outfit.

Bermuda?s women?s national team came back from two goals down to wrestle a hard-fought 2-2 draw against the visiting Wilmington College at the National Sports Centre on Wednesday night.

Chrissy Bennett put the visitors in front in the 10th minute before providing her team with a two-goal cushion at the half after converting in the 25th minute.

But Bermuda?s attack finally jumped out of first gear in the second half with prolific scorer Tschana Wade reducing her team?s deficit in the 67th minute before Vinze Zuill equalised nine minutes from time.

The local team were then denied victory when they hit the post in the final minute of play.

The two teams meet again at the same venue tomorrow (5 p.m.).