HAMILTON, Bermuda (CMC) – National coach Andrew Bascome says Bermuda will need to step up their game when they face Guatemala in the second round of qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup after demolishing the Bahamas 8-0 on aggregate in the first round.Despite winning the first leg 5-0 in Nassau on Wednesday, Bermuda struggled to break down the Bahamians in the second leg at the National Sports Centre here on Sunday before notching three late goals, two from UK-based striker Nahki Wells and the other from Tyrell Burgess, to win the game 3-0.

Bascome said he was happy to see his players stick to their passing game, even when a goal looked unlikely.
“I respect the tactics of the Bahamas team – they had two banks of four and were very disciplined,” Bascome said.
“I told the players we must keep believing in our philosophy and get the result.
“The minute you start questioning your philosophy, that’s when things can go wrong.”
Looking ahead to June’s second round, Bascome added: “We need to press Guatemala and get up on them early because if we sit back, then they’ll pull us apart.
“We’ll need to increase our fitness and improve our technical ability and we need to stay organised for longer periods.”
Bascome was delighted by the support from a crowd of more than 2 000.
“It goes to show that we do love football in Bermuda,” he said.
Dion Godet, the Bahamas coach, said: “We wanted to come out and put up a fight, and the team did that. We had a few mental breakdowns and Bermuda were able to take advantage of that.”
Dwayne Whylly, the visitors’ captain and goalkeeper, said his side had played valiantly.
“Our game plan was to stay compact defensively and to be free-flowing going forward,” he said.
“We played well for 79 minutes — the first goal came from a mistake and that was that.”
Wells, who scored a penalty in Nassau in the first leg after missing two spot-kicks for his English Championship club Huddersfield Town in their last game against Fulham, a 2-0 defeat, admitted he was far from his best.
Wells missed four clear chances, including a penalty on the stroke of half-time when his spot-kick rattled the bar, said frustration had been mounting before the breakthrough goal arrived 11 minutes from time.
“Anyone could see that many of us weren’t at our best today and I will hold up my hands and say I was one of those,” Wells said.
“It was frustrating, and when you don’t take chances, negativity starts to creep in.
“But once we unlocked the defence and got one goal, then we got two more quickly and everyone went home happy.”
He added: “We will go into the Guatemala tie as underdogs and all the pressure will be on them.
“As long as we prepare the squad well, do our best and have our 12th man (the home crowd), then there’s no reason we can’t do it.”
Guatemala are ranked 82nd in the world by FIFA while Bermuda lie 169th.