First Division leaders PHC, Devonshire Colts and Somerset will be hardest hit when the Bermuda Under-23 squad embarks on a five-match, 16-day tour of Hamburg, Germany tomorrow night.

The rebuilding Zebras will be missing five members of their squad -- captain Ottis Steede, Raynel Lightbourne, McLee Smith, Blenn Bean and Dano Outerbridge -- when they take on Devonshire Colts on Saturday night.

Colts will be without Jahmah Samuels, Jermel Belboda, McKonnen Hollis and Keishon Smith, while the Trojans will have Ricky Tucker, Andrew Rahman, Kwame Tucker and Steval Arorash on the trip to Europe. They will all miss the league match on Sunday against Devonshire Cougars.

The 19-player squad will be captained by Meshach Wade, Bermuda's skipper in the 1992 World Cup qualifying campaign, while Dwayne (Streaker) Adams also brings World Cup experience to the squad as one of the two goalkeepers. Both players will miss BAA's next match against Vasco.

A gruelling tour awaits the squad under coach Mark Trott, with an average of two training sessions a day -- three if there are no matches that day.

Technical Director of Coaching, Burkhard Ziese, is confident the purpose of preparing the team for their upcoming Pan Am Games qualifier with Canada will be served by the time the team returns on October 29.

The youth development committee of the Hamburg Football Association assisted the BFA in organising the tour which involves matches against the Hamburg State Under-21 team, TSV Niendorf, a club just outside Hamburg, TSV Wedel, and a local Third Division club called VFL 93 Hamburg, whom Ziese expects will be the toughest opponents for the Bermuda team. The final match is against Teutonia 05 Hamburg on October 27.

The squad will also see two First Division matches between leaders Werder Bremen and FC Koln the day after they arrive and another between Hamburg and Monchengladbach next Friday.

The team will get down to serious business at the training sessions which will involve 7 a.m. 5,000 metre jogs and another session at 10 a.m. for about 90 minutes. On the days when there are no matches a third session will take place in the afternoon.

"If everything goes well and weather permits we will have 30 training sessions,'' said Ziese who will accompany the team. Also making the trip, despite an injury, is Tokia Russell of PHC who will have his ticket covered by family members.

Ziese expressed appreciation to both the Bank of Bermuda and the Bermuda Olympic Association for their support of the trip.

"We're very grateful to the Bank of Bermuda once again who have given us a nice lump sum for the trip,'' said Ziese. "As well the whole outfit for the team is sponsored by the Bank of Bermuda. Without their support we couldn't go.

"The kind assistance of the Bermuda Olympic Association really helped us.'' Squad: Jahmah Samuels (Dev. Colts), Jermel Belboda (Dev. Colts), Raynel Lightbourne (PHC), McLee Smith (PHC), Andrew Rahman (Somerset), Kevin Jennings (North Village), Blenn Bean (PHC), Dano Outerbridge (PHC), Kwame Tucker (Somerset), Meshach Wade (BAA, capt), Dwayne Adams (BAA), McKonnen Hollis (Dev. Colts), Keishon Smith (Dev. Colts), Ottis Steede (PHC), Steval Arorash (Somerset), Nathan Webb (Dandy Town), Ascento Russell (Dandy Town), Nakia Smith (North Village), Ricky Tucker (Somerset).

MESHACH WADE -- skipper of the tour squad.