hope will carry them into the third round of the World Cup qualifiers.

After already defying the odds by advancing this far as a result of victories over Haiti and Antigua in the preliminary and first rounds, little Bermuda steamrolled over Central American powerhouses El Salvador in the second round and drew against Jamaica.

Now they are on the verge of really causing a stir among the CONCACAF countries.

The team will leave on a marathon journey that will last until November 16, taking them to play away matches against El Salvador in the capital San Salvador on Sunday, against Jamaica in Kingston on November 8 and finally against Canada in Vancouver on November 15.

Nobody is viewing it as an impossible mission, but coach Gary Darrell and his squad are fully aware that the venture calls for them to produce their best or suffer the consequences and return home with nothing but pride from their extended run.

One thing in Bermuda's favour going into the huge challenge ahead though is high team morale with everyone fully prepared for the fierce displays that the home teams are expected to give in their own hopes of advancing.

Kyle Lightbourne, who was forced to sit out Sunday's game against Jamaica because of a one-match suspension after being booked twice in earlier World Cup games, was one of three players offering advice to his team-mates going into the series.

"I know all of the forthcoming away games are going to be tough, it is important that we try to establish an early lead in each and then try to keep things as tight as possible afterward,'' said Lightbourne, who will regain his place as the leader of the attack.

"We didn't play as good as we could against Jamaica, but I honestly feel that I could have given a little more to the team had I been available to play.'' Lightbourne did have some success against Jamaica when Bermuda toured there in April, he scored against their top league team Wavers and then caused the Jamaica national team's defence plenty of concern in their scoreless draw.

The tall forward is looking forward for his second appearance at the National Stadium in Kingston this year, confident that he will once again perform well with the Bermuda team.

"I wasn't that well physically when we played there in April after that long bus ride from Montego Bay to Kingston, but I feel that I can make a difference when we meet them this time,'' he said.

But Lightborne feels that nothing is guaranteed in San Salvador prior to that Jamaica clash, indicating that the crowd is bound to give their home team a boost. El Salvador packed in 42,500 for their home match with Canada last week.

Scorer of the goal that gave Bermuda victory against El Salvador two weeks ago, Lightbourne said: "After playing against El Salvador and watching the Jamaica game closely I feel that Jamaica were a lot stronger in defence, but I still expect El Salvador to be tough with that crowd behind them.

"We will also have our hands full in Canada where we will be playing in a much cooler climate. Some of our players have played under those conditions but the others will just have to adjust and do their best. If we can get some points on the road then we can look forward to going into the next round.'' Skipper Meshach Wade felt that if they remained focussed and concentrated on their game plan everything would favour Bermuda.

"It is important that we go into each match confident and having faith in ourselves,'' said the Hereford United professional.

"We simply must believe in what we can do and if we look at our mission this way then things are bound to work out. The first two games will be tough, El Salvador are a good side who move the ball around a lot, but we can handle them. Jamaica play a more direct game and will be tougher at home but if we concentrate on being competitive at all times and do the right things we shouldn't have a big problem.'' Sweeper Neil Paynter, who seems to be losing a battle to be fully ready in time for Sunday's game, said that Bermuda needed to work on a few things after their showing against Jamaica.

"It was very important to come out of that clash with a draw but I don't think we played too much as a team. We simply have to work more on a few things as a team collectively. Hopefully we will work out what we did wrong in order to see a better performance on Sunday,'' said Paynter.

"Going into anyone's back yard and playing them at home is a tough task, so we are expecting to have a struggle on our hands, but if we stick to the same plan as we had against El Salvador things should work out favourably.'' Paynter is still trying to shake off his hamstring injury and was close to "ninety percent fit,'' after a light work-out on Tuesday at National Stadium.

"I don't know how well I will be by Sunday, I can only take one day at a time. I guess it will be left up in the air until then and Gary will have to make a decision,'' he said.

WELCOME BACK? -- Bermuda captain Meshach Wade, centre, will have Kyle Lightborne, left, back in Sunday's team in El Salvador, but the return of injured Neil Paynter remains uncertain.