The New England Revolution are hoping for a genuine hometown atmosphere when they bring Champions Cup football to Bermuda next month.

Their tie with LD Alajuelense has now been confirmed for Wednesday, February 22 at the National Stadium and a club spokesman is hoping the Major League Soccer side can reap the benefits of the relationship they created with the Island during last year?s tour.

?We are very happy to be coming back to Bermuda,? said Brad Feldman, who confirmed the Revolution will jet in on February 13 for a 13-day tour.

?We all feel at the club that we made some great friends when we were there last year and felt very at home on the Island.

?And with Khano Smith included in the squad I would hope that the football community in Bermuda will get behind us.

?We are certainly not demanding their support, but having been there last year and coming back again with one of their own in our team, we would like to think that when we play Alajuela it will be like a home game for us.

?I know there are people flying in from Boston for the tour but we would also like to think we have some Revolution fans in Bermuda now with all the newspaper coverage that Khano and the team have had over the past year and I hope they will come out and support us.?

The Revolution have surrendered the home-field advantage, wishing to avoid the New England winter but they have also benefited from experience; after the 2002 MLS Cup, they agreed to play both legs of the Champions Cup in Alajuela, Costa Rica. Not surprisingly, the Revolution were eliminated from the 2003 Champions Cup, losing 4-0 in the opener, then rallying for a 3-1 victory but losing on aggregate goals.

Steve Nicol?s men will play two warm-up matches before the Concacaf Champions Cup clash, taking on Kyle Lightbourne?s national team on February 18 as well as playing an, as yet, undetermined club side on February 15 in what is expected to be a lower-key affair, similar to the 45-minute match up with Dandy Town during last year?s tour, played away from the National Stadium.

After their clash with the Costa Rican team, the Revolution will play one further match, agsinst a Jamaican Under 23 team on February 25.

They fly out the following day to prepare for their second leg Champions Cup clash in early March.

?All the players and staff are looking forward to coming out to Bermuda again,? continued Feldman.

?We had a great time last year and it was very worthwhile for the club as it jumped off our 2005 season to great success.

?We hope it will do similar things for us for this campaign.

?We were made to feel very welcome last year. When we turned up for our first training session at the North Field of the National Stadium there was a rugby match going on and a few of the guys on the bench recognised us and starting chanting Steve Nicol and Paul Mariner?s names ? we hope for more of the same this time around.?

Manager Steve Nicol, who signed Smith after the then Dandy Town striker scored against the Revs in a friendly, was also keen on returning to Bermuda and switching the Champions Cup tie.

??To be honest, I was pushing toward playing in Bermuda,? Nicol told the Boston Globe.

??The only advantage we would have playing in Boston is they wouldn?t be used to the cold, but we wouldn?t be used to the cold, either. If you call having an advantage playing on turf, which we dislike, and playing in freezing cold weather early in the season ? the chance of people getting injured is huge.

??I am hoping we will have the home support behind us. They gave us a great reception last year. We have Khano on the team, and the locals should be behind us. Plus we will have support coming from Boston, as well.?

Bermuda coach Lightbourne has already gone on record about how much he is looking forward to testing the national side against what is expected to be a very strong Revolution team, containing five World-Cup bound US national team players, some of whom will be shutting in and out of the Island to balance international training camp and club commitments.