the fact that the national squad are without a coach and have not trained since their December exit from the World Cup.

Bermuda Football Association president Charlie Marshall said yesterday that he remained optimistic that Bermuda will enter for the first time, pointing out that the recent support that the team received during the World Cup only showed just how eager the community is to see the country progress at an international level.

Should Bermuda enter, plans call for them to meet Canada in a home-and-away qualifying round with the winner joining the other two countries from the North American zone, United States and Mexico, who have already been seeded in the finals. The tie against Canada has to be played by the end of May.

In addition to the three-team representation from the North American Zone, the eight-team finals will feature three teams from the Central American zone and two from the Caribbean zone.

With the BFA anxiously awaiting news from its auditors of the cost of entering the World Cup, combined with Gary Darrell resigning as coach and the inactivity of the squad, news that plans to proceed with additional international matches during the coming months may surprise many.

"We are holding negotiations with Canada at this present time and the matter is in the hands of our coaching committee who will then make recommendations to the executive committee,'' said Marshall. "But I am quite optimistic that we will be involved.'' When questioned about Bermuda making plans to enter an international tournament without anyone being appointed to replace Darrell who resigned right after Bermuda's scoreless draw against Canada at National Stadium on December 6, Marshall said that the coaching committee had a "timetable pertaining to coaching''. He suggested that further information could be obtained from its chairman Gerard Bean, but Bean when reached yesterday was reluctant to give any additional information.

As far as the logistics of entering the Gold Cup is concerned, Marshall said: "We can see how something like this benefits the local players. The public and business community supported the squad in the World Cup and this only demonstrates that they like to see the team participate in international competitions.'' Kevin Pipe, secretary general of the Canadian Football Federation, agreed that discussions were ongoing but indicated that their desire was to have the two qualifying rounds played in March.

"Our problem is that we are in the third round of the World Cup and have fixtures scheduled between April 1 and May 10, so we would like to have the Gold Cup games against Bermuda played in March,'' said Pipe.

"We are in continued contact with Bermuda and are discussing various angles and options in hopes of finalising some dates. We are hopeful of having something confirmed within the week,'' he added.

While Bermuda have never participated before in the Gold Cup, Canada played in the inaugural competition in 1991.

The United States are the defending champions after defeating Honduras 4-3 on penalties after a scoreless draw.

The Gold Cup calls for countries in the three zones playing qualifying rounds and then with eight teams advancing to a round-robin league featuring two groups of four countries.

The venue for the two round robins is tentatively set for Mexico and Los Angeles with the final also set to take place in Los Angeles.

REMATCH -- Bermuda are scheduled to meet Canada in the Gold Cup preliminary round, a repeat of World Cup qualifying action.