are able to bounce back from Sunday's bruising loss against El Salvador will determine their fate in this World Cup qualifying campaign.

The 4-1 win for El Salvador brought front page headlines in yesterday's daily newspaper that read: "We continue with the fight'' and "We take our revenge and are still alive''.

It was the most convincing result of the six matches played so far in the group as El Salvador became the first team to score more than one goal in a single match.

The loss leaves Bermuda with the worst goal difference of the four teams but coach Gary Darrell still feels the group is close enough that the two qualifying spots might not be decided until the final matches on December 6 when Bermuda host group favourites Canada and El Salvador entertain Jamaica.

"We went into this game thinking `okay, we win today and we're almost home free', '' said Darrell of the El Salvador match.

"Next week if we lose it could do away our chances to qualify. We need a victory in one of these games (in Jamaica or Canada) to stay in contention. It might just come down to that last game.

"I was still happy with the effort put in by our guys but it showed up weaknesses in our game.'' For the second straight week Bermuda will face the bottom team in the group with Jamaica, like El Salvador, coming into the Bermuda match without a win and desperately needing one to stay in contention.

From the way Jamaica played in Bermuda recently they are expected to be a very tough team at home and Darrell is aware of the importance of a good result for both teams.

"We will look at the tape from the match with Jamaica and try to pick up on some things to improve on from this match and try to get it all together by Sunday,'' said Darrell.

The coach pointed out the importance of his players recognising that these teams are going to be even more difficult to beat at home in more familiar surroundings. He saw it against the Haitians and now with El Salvador who looked a much better team than when they played in Bermuda.

"These teams are like night and day away from home,'' said Darrell. "El Salvador looked like a team we could compete with at home, and we did and we got the result we deserved. But to compare their performance there with the one here, it's hard to see that it's the same team.

"I remember saying prior to the second match in Haiti that I couldn't see them getting much better than they were in Bermuda. But they were again like night and day.

"With El Salvador we were not aware that they could get to the level they showed in this match.'' Darrell made no excuses for the defeat, simply admitting that El Salvador were by far the better side. "This team was as much in control of the game that it was just a case of their folks just sitting back and enjoying the show,'' he said.

Now it is time to prepare for another tough match in Jamaica and Darrell expects them to be as tough as they were in Bermuda. He will be calling on his own players to show more aggression.

"There are times when things do not go as you would want but you have to make them happen,'' he explained.

"At this level players will take cheap shots at you but it is all part of the international game. You do not teach it, just learn it from experience. We could have been a bit more aggressive (against El Salvador) and you need to do that just to get respect.

The Bermuda team arrived at their camp in Boca Raton, Florida, last night and will stay there until Friday before flying to Jamaica.

Some 45 fax messages were sent to the Bermuda team wishing them good luck in the El Salvador match. Unfortunately they were sent to the hotel where the team were originally due to stay and the messages, from companies and individuals, were not received until after the match.

GARY DARRELL.