Tucker excited by senior call-up
By Stephen Wright (Royal Gazzette)Kenwyne Jones, Stern John, Carlos Edwards and Jason Scotland are just some of the star figures Bermuda’s players are likely to come face-to-face with at the Hasley Crawford Stadium next Friday.
But Tucker believes it’s up to Bermuda to make life uncomfortable for the favourites and has no fear of his team-mates being overwhelmed by the occasion, especially as many of them played in their country’s 2-1 win in Trinidad three years ago.
“I’m not going off the names of their players or anything like that,” said the Dandy Town defender. “It’s challenge but at the end of the day the game is played on the field. I’ll just go out there and stick to my own game, if I get out on the pitch.
“I’m excited about being involved, especially with our first game against Trinidad which is going to be a tough one. Hopefully our boys will give a good showing of themselves. I think we could go down there and nick a point, maybe even three.”
The 27-year-old hasn’t been part of the national team programme since the under-17 level when he played in World Cup qualifiers in Trinidad. He said he was feeling confident having had one of his best ever seasons last term with the Hornets, which he believed had convinced Devarr Boyles he was worth a call-up.
“I was involved at the under-17 level in the World Cup qualifiers in Trinidad when we came second but didn’t make it to the next stage,” said Tucker.
“It’s been quite a long time that I haven’t been involved in the system; it nice to be back though. I had a good season with Dandy Town and I’m guessing the coaches liked what they saw and called me up.”
The kick-off time for Bermuda’s match against the Soca Warriors has been changed from 7pm to 4.30pm after the Trinidad and Tobago Government upgraded its limited state of emergency into a full scale one. This year there have been 280 murders in Trinidad, including 48 last weekend.
Meanwhile, Bermuda’s second qualifier against Guyana on September 6 has been switched from a home tie to an away game. The 20-man squad will now head straight to Guyana after their game against Trinidad as part of a cost-cutting exercise.
n Bahamas have pulled out of the World Cup qualifying competition, FIFA said earlier this week. Bahamas had been due to play in Group C in the second round of the Concacaf zone along with Panama, Dominica and Nicaragua.
FIFA said the group would now be contested by three teams with the winners progressing to the next stage of qualifying. Bahamas beat Turks and Caicos Islands 10-0 on aggregate in a two-leg preliminary tie.
The Bahamas Tribune said the withdrawal was caused by the unavailability of a new Chinese-built 23,000 capacity stadium which the federation had planned to use for home games. It added that although the stadium was handed over by the Chinese government in June, approach roads, car parks, landscaping and sewerage had not been completed.
The report said the alternative would have been to play home matches at neutral venues but the cost would have been prohibitive.
