HAMILTON, Bermuda (CMC) – Bermuda will still have plenty at stake when they take on Barbados in a Group-B double-header in CONCACAF qualification for the 2014 World Cup later this month at the National Sports Centre here.
The Royal Gazette newspaper reported yesterday that the Bermudans will now play both matches at home as part of a mutually beneficial cost-cutting exercise.
The two teams had been scheduled to meet in a home-and-away series, but the Barbados Football Association requested to play both games on the road because of the unavailability of a suitable venue in Bridgetown.
Bermuda’s opening game against the Tridents will be played on Remembrance Day, November 11, while the second match, originally to be held in Barbados on November 15, will now take place a day earlier.
It is the second time Bermuda have made alterations to their Group-B fixtures in an effort to cut costs.
They were scheduled to return home to play Guyana after losing their opening qualifier against Trinidad & Tobago in September, but ended up playing both games in the Caribbean because it worked out cheaper.
The Bermudans and the Barbadians have virtually been eliminated from advancing to the semi-final round of qualifying, but the two matches will be crucial for the hosts.
Victory in both matches against Barbados, the group’s bottom-place side, would catapult Bermuda into the World’s top 100 teams for the first time. Since the start of their World Cup campaign, Bermuda have risen 57 places to 132nd in FIFA’s rankings, the island’s best position for several years.
Bermuda are third in Group-B with four points and are unbeaten at home, having defeated T&T and drawn with Guyana last month.
Barbados have lost all four of their qualifiers and are still without a goal to their name.
Bermuda last met Barbados more than three years ago in two home friendly games, which they won 2-1 and 3-0. They are likely to be without their Northampton Town goalkeeper Freddy Hall for both matches.
With Bermuda unable to qualify, Northampton have requested that Hall make himself available for the English Division Two side’s FA Cup match at Luton Town on November 12.