Robert Calderon yesterday resigned as national soccer coach after nearly two years in charge in the aftermath of Bermuda's World Cup exit against Antigua at the weekend.

As his parting shot, Calderon said it was important for the soccer fraternity to learn from the problems which had plagued the campaign, particularly the menace of drugs.

Players known to be taking drugs had been eliminated from the national team's plans, severely restricting the pool of players to choose from.

"We have been roundly criticised by people who don't understand the problems we have encountered,'' said Calderon.

"We have probably the most stringent drugs policy of all the islands -- and that is not a bad thing, I want to make that clear -- but it does restrict the number of players in the squad.

"It's frustrating when you hear people calling out for certain people to be involved in the team when you know they can't be because they would fail a test.

"I hope we stick with the policy and it works. That way we can save football and save the country as well.'' On his decision to quit, the former national team captain and Vasco, Hotels and Dandy Town coach said: "I'm 45 this year and I think I've had my fill. I think you need to recognise when your face doesn't fit. I'm tired of the battle national coaches have to go through, particularly when the results are not in keeping with poeple's expectations -- which are unfortunately unrealistic in this country.

"We have done some things that have not been 100 percent right. We make mistakes because we are human.

"The first step to recovery is to admit we have serious problems -- collectively we have to start being honest about it.'' The drugs problem, coupled with the absence of the team's two pro strikers Shaun Goater and Kyle Lightbourne for both legs of the Antigua tie had left attacking options limited, said Calderon.

And that was the reason for throwing US-based Colin Robinson into the fray for his debut against Antigua.

On the failure to secure the services of Lightbourne and Goater, Calderon said that no-one at the BFA had been prepared to take charge of the matter.

"No-one wanted to take the lead and everyone seemed intimidated by the opinion of a lot of people on the Island and an almost daily campaign in the media suggesting that they should be left alone.

"It is difficult for a coach to stand up alone in front of the country in those circumstances. We wanted them, but we were not sure we had support for it. It had to be a unified effort.

"We needed to establish a long time ago whether we would have the two of them involved or not and whether they were interested.

"The ongoing issues surrounding Mr Best and the association were another distraction and in all the circumstances, we should not be surprsied at what happened in the World Cup.'' Calderon also took aim at those who knocked the side's tactics and use of the 3-5-2 system.

"We have worked with a system used by many successful teams in the world and when some people start talking tactics, they show their ignorance,'' said Calderon.

"People claimed it was defensive, but we went out the World Cup because we missed a lot of chances -- that's not through being defensive.

"We also did well with it in the Caribbean Cup and we beat Denmark's Olympic team using it.'' Calderon added: "We have a tremendous amount of talent in Bermuda, particularly at the under-23 level and it's now up to the association to give them support to succeed and put the right people in charge.'' Clyde Best is also turning his attention to life after the Bermuda Football Association.

Though his deal to carry on as a technical advisor since his contract as technical director expired last month has not been formally terminated, Best said yesterday that the arrangement had been for him to depart at the conclusion of the World Cup campaign.

Best added: "All I can say is the coaches did the best we could in the circumstances. I think we did a good job when you look at the hand we were dealt.

"I will say more when the rhetoric has calmed down. Now I've got the rest of my life to live and I'm working on one or two things for the future.'' Robert Calderon: `had my fill'.