Nusum to miss Trinidad qualifier.
By Josh Ball (Royal Gazette).Bermuda will travel to the Caribbean for their first two World Cup Qualifiers without their all-time leading goalscorer John Barry Nusum.
Nusum has been ruled out of the matches against Trinidad and Tobago on Friday and Guyana a week on Tuesday due to work commitments.
In an ideal world head coach Devarr Boyles would have had the cash available to compensate Numsum's employers, however the limited financial resources the Bermuda Football Association are currently operating under meant that wasn't possible.
The BFA is already shelling out a considerable amount of money to fly the likes of Nahki Wells and Freddy Hall to Florida for a four day training camp, and have made similar commitements for the length of the qualifiers.
“If we were further along, or in an ideal world, where we had a pot of money where we can compensate people from their regular jobs here in Bermuda, as well as getting them from schools and overseas, things might be different,” said Boyles. “Financially we're not there yet.
“As you can appreciate the Association is spending huge money to co-ordinate all of this and getting them (players) to Florida.
“A considerable amount of funds is being pumped in, and unlike previous years where it was two matches, this is six, so you can appreciate that (it's more expensive).”
Influential midfielder Kwame Steede is the other big name to miss out, Steede is still recovering from knee surgery and Boyles was unwilling to risk him this early in the six-match campaign.
Ultimately availability has dictated who makes Boyles' first 22-man squad, although the Bermuda boss made it clear that players who missed out this time around were likely to feature in the other games.
“It (selection) is based on availability and the players that are there are the players that are available,” said Boyles. “In John Barry's case his cycle of work didn't allow that. Had he been available he would have been in the reckoning.
“The squad that's selected for these two matches is not going to be reflected for the period (of the qualifiers).
“The squad's going to be changed and updated based on availability, that's what it really boils down to.”
While Boyles is quietly confident about his team's chances in the qualifiers he is also keen to manage expectations, and rather than focusing on which countries Bermuda can or should beat he just wants to see his side advance to the next stage of the competition.
“We are very optimistic, we know there are going to be challenges but we're putting a team on the field that we know can cope, and with coping we'll see where that takes us,” said Boyles.
“If we perform we give ourselves a big chance. If preparation is good, and I say it is, we'll give ourselves a big chance. All we're trying to do is increase the chances of advancing or being successful on the day.
“But we have to manage our expectations. The idea in the past was was to advance to get more games, that's not any different now.
“It's about ‘can we get points on the board that allows us to get more games'.”
BFA Announce World Cup Squad (8/26/2011)
