The Bermuda Under-17 boys football team defeated Hamilton Parish 7-3 at the Clyde Best Centre of Excellence on Thursday night as part of their preparations for next month's World Cup qualifiers.

Aaron Lugo arranged the practice match against the Premier Division side, who are coached by his assistant Sergio Goater, during his final session with the expanded group of players.

While his team was victorious, Lugo was quick to point out that he was focusing on patterns of play rather than the result.

“I wanted to give the players competition against older and more physical opponents,” Lugo told The Royal Gazette.

“We won 7-3 but the focus wasn’t just to win, it was more about working out combinations. When we played against the under-15 national programme, they were good tactically, but we were physically faster and stronger than them.

“Once you play against a different type of opponent, you have to change your game. I was glad that we could adapt and play a confident style of football against men.”

Lugo tried to maximise time afforded to him during the school break to get as much time with the players as possible during the festive period, with the final squad of 21 players expected to be made public soon.

Bermuda will play against Curaçao, Anguilla, Turks & Caicos Islands, and Canada from February 7 to 16 at the Flora Duffy Stadium. Winning group A will secure Lugo’s team qualification for the Fifa World Cup in Qatar later this year.

Lugo’s team is likely to be built around midfielder Na'im Zuill, who is based at the Bolton Wanderers Academy, as well as PHC duo Dakari Smith-Davis and Harlem Bean-Fox, with the coach pleased by the squad’s commitment.

“I worked diligently to make sure that we trained a lot during this Christmas break,’’ the coach said.

“We incorporated spinning sessions, so it was not just football. We had some activities to make sure that the sessions were more fun.

“The most difficult part was sharing the players with the under-18 tournament, and the senior men’s Christmas competitions. We had some of our players representing their clubs in the Friendship Trophy and First Division Shield.

“Some of the players came home to spend time with their families. But it’s World Cup qualifier preparation, so we’re hoping that people will make the sacrifice and make themselves available for this tournament.

“Now that the team has been selected, the best thing to do is get them training with everyone and that’s going to be the challenge.

“We have selected 21 players and we have five on standby just in case we have anyone not available for whatever reason.

“With the players returning back to school, we have to make use of technology. Since we have players overseas, we have to find a time when all our players can get online at the same time.

“We are having a recovery session on Saturday. We have asked all the players who were active on Thursday and Friday’s Charles Marshall Cup to come out and get a stretching session.

“From there, we can dismiss the players who are going back overseas. We’re still looking to use those who were not selected while we’re still preparing because we need numbers.”

Also preparing for World Cup qualification are the Bermuda Under-17 girls team. They are heading to Dominican Republic, where they will play against Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico and St Vincent & the Grenadines, from January 27 to 31.

Finishing on top of group A will see Gary Adams’s team qualify for the Concacaf Women's Under-17 Championship, which is the final qualifier for the ninth edition of the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Morocco later this year.

A good attendance was observed during the training session as Adams and his team of assistants took the girls through their paces.