Bermuda's footballers will be looking to ring in the New Year in winning style when they tackle Barbados in a three-match series over the holidays.

The Bermuda Football Association (BFA) yesterday announced they will host their Eastern Caribbean rivals from Christmas Eve until early January 2004 as both countries gear up for next year's World Cup qualifiers.

“Barbados' senior men's national team will visit Bermuda to play three matches - two against Bermuda's senior national team and one versus a club team,” said BFA General Secretary David Sabir yesterday, adding the club side would be revealed later.

“Bermuda and Barbados have had a long-standing respect for each other on the field with their youth teams visiting us on a number of occasions.

“We believe that, from a competitive standpoint, their senior team would provide good opposition as we prepare to participate in the World Cup's qualifying rounds in early 2004.”

Action begins on Boxing Day with the two national teams facing off. The Barbadians will then oppose the club team on December 28 before playing their final game versus the senior squad on New Year's Day. The national teams will vie for the Dudley Eve Memorial Trophy in the final game.

Sabir noted this is because, since last year, the BFA decided to set aside the annual Dudley Eve Trophy competition “to provide opportunities for incoming tours such as this”.

The other BFA - the Barbados Football Association - also confirmed their intention to tune up for the sport's showpiece during the trip.

“We have the (World Cup) qualifier coming up so we're using this tournament to expose our players and give them some match practice,” said John Husbands, the Senior Assistant Secretary of Barbados' football governing body.

He too anticipates the fixtures will be competitive, recalling that the last time Barbados' senior team played here it was also late in the year and “the guys were complaining that it was really cold”.

Their 23-strong touring party will be led by manager Sherlock Yarde, while Kenville Layne is the coach.

What's expected to be a full-strength Barbados team will feature 18 footballers some of whom have had experience in North America and the UK. Goalkeeper Horace Stoute has played in Ireland, while midfielder Gregory Goodridge enjoyed a lengthy stint in England with Bristol, Torquay United and Queens Park Rangers.

Ryan Lucas is currently with Toronto Lynx in the A-League of the United Soccer Leagues in the USA and John Hawkesworth has played semi-professionally in Trinidad and the USA.

Others to look out for are Norman Forde - rated among Barbados' best footballers - and Llewellyn Riley, the leading international goal-scorer in the current Barbados line-up. John Parris is the captain.

“Some of these players would have played last time when we went to the semi-finals (of the qualifiers) in the last World Cup,” noted Husbands.

Among Barbados' successes during that run were victories against Cuba and Costa Rica. The latter advanced to the World Cup final in Japan and South Korea.

The Bajans have been training for more than six months and a final squad will be selected next week.

It's possible, acknowledged Husbands, that Bermuda and Barbados could eventually clash in their World Cup campaigns. However, he explained the earliest this could happen is the second round - if Bermuda reaches that far.

“We have been seeded for the proposed draw so we wouldn't play in the first round because we got to the semi-final round of the last World Cup qualifier.

“Teams like Bermuda, Grenada, St. Lucia will be playing to get into the second round. At that stage we might meet - who knows.”

The official said Barbados are eager to improve on their best showing in the World Cup and are looking “to go as far as the semi-finals and further”.