Struggling to hold back his emotions after watching his team battle to an exciting 2-2 draw against El Salvador in last night?s World Cup qualifier before a packed house at the National Sports Centre, Bermuda coach Kenny Thompson said he remained immensely proud of every one of his players.

While just failing to reach the next round of the World Cup qualifiers, his side, he pointed out, had put on a gritty performance to hold highly ranked opposition at bay ? despite having to play the final 47 minutes with only ten men after skipper Kentoine Jennings was sent off.

Bermuda dodged several bullets in San Salvador last week, losing 2-1 in the opening contest, but managed to upstage the visitors for lengthy spells during last night?s return leg.

And with a little bit of luck, said Thomspon, things could have easily gone Bermuda?s way.

Now the coach hopes to see the Island invest more in its football future.

?Just imagine what?s possible with a little more investment?? he said. ?More investment in the programme gives us a better chance at results. And so we need the help of the Government, the corporate sector and the entire public.?

?It is important that we make the necessary investment. It is important the country make the investment after seeing what the players can achieve with minimum resources. Tonight we brought an entire country together.

?Football means that much to our country and to our society. So it is very important we take advantage of this, not only from a football development standpoint, but also from a social standpoint as well. Because with a little more investment a lot of things can be possible.?

Thompson said his team had every reason to be proud.

?Although we are disappointed at not advancing we have a lot to be proud of,? he continued. ?This team showed great determination. We had our ups going ahead 1-0 and then 2-1. The players performed very, very well and gave it their all. But it was always going to be difficult playing with ten men. We just wanted to get to half-time without any additional damage.?.

During the break, fallen stars Shaun Goater and Kyle Lightbourne played a positive role in motivating their team-mates in the dressing room.

And when Bermuda stepped out onto the pitch in the second half, their input seemed to have made an impression.

?The players really believed they could make a game out of it . . . and they did,? Thompson added.

?Shaun and Kyle were in the changing room before the match and at half-time. And so they were there for us and it has just been a fantastic ride in this World Cup and we are looking to progress forward.

?I am very proud of this team and Bermuda should also be very proud.?

Giving his post match analysis, Thompson admitted Jennings? 43rd minute dismissal proved to be the turning point. He also described El Salvador?s second goal as ?unfortunate?.

?Overall I think the team defended well, but we were unlucky in conceding two goals,? he said. ?Their first goal came from a free kick which took a bit of a deflection and then we had the unfortunate situation with Kentoine (Jennings). Maybe we were a little bit too lax in defence which led to the free header in front of goal and Kentoine made a natural reaction trying to save the ball.

?I don?t think he put his hand out intentionally . . . it was almost an instinctive action.?

But the coach took absolute delight in striker John Barry Nusum?s clinical first-half header which put Bermuda up 2-1, describing the goal as ?out of this world?.

He said: ? I was very, very pleased because it was a spectacular goal. It was a spectacular build up all around. The build up was spectacular, the cross was first class and the finish was out of this world.?

?At 2-1 up I thought we were in a good position if we could keep them from scoring and use the remainder of the match trying to score.

?So we were in a good position and I always felt we had a couple of goals in us and certainly some chances. But at 2-2 and playing with ten men was always going to be difficult. But the fightback was tremendous. We played football in their half for the rest of the match.

?And with a little bit more luck we could?ve been the ones going forward. But it wasn?t to be and so now we must look to the future.?