Bermuda 0 Cuba 0

Bermuda goalie Daniel Johnson emerged as the hometown hero on Saturday night as the local boys battled to a scoreless draw against Cuba at the National Sports Centre.

Indeed, the young North Village ‘keeper may have played the most crucial match of his fledgling career as time and again he was called into action to deny a Cuban attack led by top marksman Felix Crespo.

And thanks to his heroics Bermuda will head off to Havana this week with their World Cup qualifying hopes still very much alive.

The two Under-17 teams clash again next Sunday at the Compar La Polar ground to determine who will advance to the next round of the World Youth Cup qualifiers.

Johnson was simply outstanding. Showing great agility, the goalie immaculately timed his leap midway through the second half to tip a point blank Leonel Duantes sizzler over the bar.

With Cuba throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Johnson, the local goalie was again called upon to go vertical and tip a Miguel Diaz blast over the bar before capping off an outstanding performance by getting his hand to yet another 20-yard tracer from Jaule Alonso, thus ensuring his team a precious draw.

“I felt really confident in myself tonight,” said Johnson following the match.

“Tonight I really went out there to play hard and I had the strength and I knew that I could pull it off.

“After about five or ten minutes, it felt as though I was playing in my back yard and I just had to do what I had to.”

Satisfied with Saturday's result, coach Kenny Thompson said he believed his team could still advance.

“We certainly didn't want to concede goals in this match and we didn't,” he said. “In fact we had several chances to win the match and that was a good sign. I think it bodes well travelling to Cuba and I'm very confident we can go to Cuba and win.”

Thompson also paid tribute to Johnson.

“That's a goalkeeper's responsibility,” he said. “It's their responsibility to keep the ball out of the net when called upon and Johnson made some spectacular saves. That's the importance of having a confident ‘keeper in goal.”

However, while Johnson managed to hold up his end of the bargain his colleagues in attack endured a miserable night in front of goal. Although no one could really fault strikers Damon Swan and Angelo Simmons as Bermuda opted for a cautious approach and packed the middle in a defensive posture which often left the attacking duo stranded.

But during one of Bermuda's breakaways, Swan waltzed his way through the Cuban defence before threading a pass to Simmons whose first-time lob was brilliantly plucked out of the air by Cuban ‘keeper Jose Miranda.

Cuba immediately responded by forcing two successive corners while Johnson was also come off his line and bravely save at Crespo's feet.

Midway through the opening period, Bermuda's Zuri Darrell sent Simmons through but from eight yards out the Boulevard striker hesitated to shoot and Miranda rushed to snuff out the danger. At the other end Crespo shot wide of the near post when well positioned from 12 yards. Johnson then did well to push a Jaule Alonso shot around the post for a corner to ensure the teams remained scoreless at the break.

After the sparse crowd were treated to a half-time Gombey performance, it was Bermuda who came out dancing in the second half as Swan somehow managed to get a head to Keishan Bean's inswinging corner which was scrambled away by the Cuban defence.

Bermuda then brought on Cornell Castle for an out-of-touch Simmons while Cuba's Diaz was booked for foul language by American referee Ricardo Venezuela.

Bermuda defender McQuin Burch also received a yellow card moments before he took a nasty knock to the groin and was subsequently replaced by Georgio Fox. Thomas Watson was also introduced into the match 10 minutes from time.

Both teams produced opportunities to break the deadlock with Bermuda's Tuarean Manders providing a probing cross which rolled completely untouched across the Cuban goal while Darrell saw his powerful header soar over. Bean then shredded the Cuban defence with a piercing pass that sent Darrell goalbound, but the lanky forward hesitated to fire and the chance went begging. Bean was also booked late in the match for a crunching tackle on Ariel Manfiuez.

It was Cuba who would finish on a stronger note as they seemed to gain a marginal edge heading down the home stretch but Johnson was there to save the day.

“I think that we should be proud of the effort put in by our players and I think that it shows that our football at this level has grown tremendously,” commented Bermuda Football Association secretary David Sabir shortly after the match.

Bermuda: D.Johnson, M.Burch (G.Fox, 73 mins.), R.Richardson, L.Alexander, A.Lowe, K.Outerbridge, Z.Darrell, T.Manders, D.Swan, K.Bean (T.Watson, 82 mins.), A.Simmons (C.Castle, 58 mins.)

Cuba: J.Miranda, M.Garcias, Y.Garrillo, A.Minauda, M.Diaz, M.Ruiz, J.Kindelan, J.Alonso, A.Manfiuez, L.Duantes (Y.La Rosa, 76 mins.), F.Crespo.

Booked: M.Burch, K.Bean (Bermuda); M.Diaz (Cuba).

Men of the match: D.Johnson (Bermuda); J.Kindelan (Cuba).

Referee: R.Venezuela (USA)