Bermuda's World Cup opponents, the British Virgin Islands, have been rocked by the resignation of their technical director Luis Andre, who quit after a bust-up with his players.

News of the former Porto player's shock decision came yesterday from the BVI Football Association, just three days before the Caribbean nation's first ever World Cup match.

Andre was involved in a row with his players after a friendly against St.

Lucia in which the BVI spurned a 2-1 half-time lead to lose 3-2.

The Portuguese coach, who took over from Englishman Charlie Cook only four months ago, is still in the country but has quit the post.

"He (Andre) is still around, but he has resigned,'' said Kenrick Grant, president of the BVIFA. "I suppose you could say there have been differences of opinion so he felt he could not continue in the job.

"The problems arose out of the St. Lucia match, which we lost, and there was some falling out between the players and the technical director. So he offered his resignation.'' The Bermuda team were scheduled to fly in last night for Sunday's first leg of the Caribbean Zone II first round qualifier.

Grant said spirits were high in the BVI camp despite the loss of Andre.

"This is our first World Cup qualifier and we are excited about it. We have never played Bermuda before but we know about a few of their players,'' said the president.

"We are hoping to use the fact that we are playing at home to our advantage and we feel we have a good chance.

"Of course, we know that Bermuda have good players but I don't think they've had their full squad together for as long as we have and so maybe we will be more cohesive as a team.'' Both sides in Sunday's clash had the option of using a loophole to boost their squads with an influx of British professionals -- but neither will be taking advantage.

A FIFA-ratified ruling allows any country operating inside the UK's jurisdiction to field any British player.

The Cayman Islands have exploited the loophole and have included five English professionals in their squad for their first World Cup game against Cuba on Sunday.

Bermuda Football Association president Neville Tyrrell said this week the Island would not be following suit as it was "not in the spirit of the game''.

And the BVI have no intention of inviting any UK players into their squad either, as Kenrick Grant confirmed yesterday.

"We have heard something about this but I don't think we would ever do it because it wouldn't go down well with the football public,'' said Grant.

"We would not want to invite foreigners into the BVI team purely on the grounds they are good footballers.

"The only way we would ever consider doing something like this is if there were British people resident in the BVI who might then be eligible for selection.'' BVI team coach Gregory Grant said that his team included no professionals and would be drawn from a tiny pool of players, none of whom played outside the BVI.

"We have seven clubs in the country and the total number of registered footballers is about 100,'' said the coach.

"We are really looking forward to Sunday and I am just hoping that everyone peaks at the right time. Then I'm sure we have a chance of doing well.'' The BVI warmed up for the fixture with a victory and defeat over visiting Anguilla last weekend.

Anguilla, who occupy the 202nd and bottom spot in the latest FIFA world rankings, raced into a 4-0 half-time lead in the first game and held on to win 4-3 despite a strong fightback by the BVI in the second period.

But in the second match, a determined BVI side thrashed the visitors 5-0 with Peterson Azille scoring two of the goals.

Coach Grant said he had used the Anguilla games to experiment.

"We were just trying out a lot of different players and I feel they are approaching peak performance now,'' said Grant.

Shaun Goater: The Manchester City striker will be hoping to boost his international goals tally against a BVI side made up entirely of amateurs.