24-year absence, is making his first trip to Haiti to support the team for the second leg of their World Cup preliminary round tie.

The immediate past Bermuda Football Association president was at the National Stadium last month to cheer on Bermuda in the 1-0 first-leg win and is so determined to see them do well in the second leg that he has booked a ticket to the Caribbean island to lend his support.

"I just want them to do well,'' Dane said. "I've never been to Haiti but I want to see them perform. No one was more elated than I was when we beat Haiti. I was so pleased.

"It was just fantastic football and now we have to get ready for our away match and I think we'll do well. One goal is difficult to defend, we have to get a goal.'' Dane has no doubts Bermuda can get by Haiti and Antigua after that in the next round, though as a former coach himself he knows of the danger of looking too far ahead. "I can look down the road but I wouldn't like the team or Gary (Darrell) to look down the road,'' Dane said.

Dane, who spent five years at the head of the BFA before being replaced by Charlie Marshall last season, set a 12-year plan for Bermuda in the World Cup, saying that by the year 2002, the Island should be looking to reach the finals.

"Athletes prepare for the Olympics, the cricketers prepare for Test matches and footballers look to the World Cup and my feeling is why spend all this money becoming affiliated with FIFA, to be going to their conferences to be kept abreast, to make all of these contacts and not enter the most prestigious thing in football, the World Cup,'' Dane said.

Dane added that it costs between $6,000 and $8,000 to send a delegation to FIFA biennial conferences. "Why spend all that money to make contacts and not be involved?.

"I think we should always enter the World Cup. There are countries that are far worse off than we are who play in the World Cup. People are saying we should wait until we are ready, but that's like saying not to go into the water until you learn how to swim.

"There are people who don't think we should be involved because we don't have the money but if we win this one then you're going to find all kinds of people wanting to become a part of this.

'' Bermuda, if they survive this tie, will take on Antigua in the first round in the Caribbean region. That round must be completed between June 15 and July 31. From then the road gets tougher as the winner of Bermuda-Haiti-Antigua go on to play in group B in the (round robin) second round against Canada, Nicaragua or El Salvador and the winners of Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico and Jamaica.

"We can't expect to perform at a high level if we don't have goals,'' Dane stated. "There are still many people who don't want us to do well. Our vision was that by the year 2002 we would be one of the teams to represent the CONCACAF region in the World Cup.

"People are saying why do it now and my argument is its part of the preparation. It's amazing the people who were opposed to it.'' So far four members of the national team are playing professionally, a number that could swell even further when Kyle Lightbourne, Neil Paynter and Albert Smith head to England for trials in the summer.

"The further we go in this competition the greater the opportunity for our players to play professionally,'' Dane said. "All of our players who have played professionally did so because they played as internationals.

"Shawn told me when he first went to Barbados in 1989 that when he gets together with the players at Manchester United all they talk about is how many caps they have.

'' Dane has been low key since leaving the association, though he did go up to the stadium every night in the week leading up to the Haiti match to watch them train and offer his support.

"There are a few of us who are very supportive and we want Gary to know that we're supportive,'' said Dane, who added that former international Randy Horton has been another ardent supporter. "We just want to be there for him (Darrell) because it's so easy to be critical in this country, which happens all too often.'' THE MAN ... -- Donald dane ... AND HIS DREAM -- Bermuda's national squad at a recent session in preparation fro sunday's match in Haiti.