Bermuda's friendly match against Tampa Bay Mutiny on Saturday could be scrapped because of the Major League Soccer side's success in a pre-season tournament.

The Island's World Cup and Olympic squads flew out to Orlando yesterday for a nine-day tour comprising six matches and intensive training.

The Tampa match was due to be the second of three games for the senior national team, but the club's director of operations Ed Austin said the fixture was now unlikely to go ahead.

But there is a possibility that another MLS team will be able to step in as an 11th-hour replacement.

Tampa have won their opening two games in the MLS Spring Training 2000 tournament being played in Fort Lauderdale this month.

Their 2-0 win against Colorado last Wednesday and a 1-0 triumph over New England on Sunday will almost certainly place Tampa in the top four of the 12-team tournament and qualify them for the final or third-place play-off which will both be played on Friday night in Fort Lauderdale.

Austin said yesterday that two matches were due to be played late last night before Tampa's qualification was certain.

"All the indications are that it is more than likely we will be playing on Friday in either the final or third-place match,'' said Austin.

"And if we are playing then, it would be very difficult for us to get back to Tampa in time to play against Bermuda on Saturday.

"I will be talking to our coach to find out when they can get back into town and I will be calling Clyde Best in the morning.'' Best, who was en route to the squad's training camp in Orlando yesterday, had anticipated that the Tampa fixture could be lost in such a way.

And with organising replacement opposition in mind, Best had contacted another MLS side, Columbus Crew.

The Crew's chances of reaching Friday's finals in the pre-season tournament disappeared with their 1-0 defeat by MetroStars on Monday.

The first match of the tour involves the under-23s taking on the New York MetroStars in Orlando tomorrow afternoon.

MetroStars are unlikely to treat the game too seriously as they will also be involved in the MLS finals the following day.

MetroStars director of communications John Neves said yesterday he knew nothing of the match, but added that it was probably part of the team's pre-season training schedule under their new Ecuadorian coach Octavio Zambrano.

Neves confirmed that the Olympic squad would not have to contend with former World Player of the Year Lothar Matthaus, who has signed for MetroStars but will not be released by Bayern Munich to join them until March 10.

But they could face former Colombia international Alex Comas, who signed this month from Atletico Nacional. And another threat is midfielder Brian Kelly, who has scored three goals in MetroStars' two pre-season wins -- 1-0 against Columbus and 3-1 against Dallas.

On Friday, the under-23s face the US under-20 team, a fixture which Ed Austin helped Best to arrange, while the senior side face the University of Central Florida.

On Saturday, the under-23s play the University of Tampa in the first half of what was scheduled to be a double header with the seniors taking on Mutiny afterwards.

The final match of the tour comes on Sunday, with the seniors travelling 150 miles or so south to Fort Lauderdale to take on Miami Fusion at the 20,000-capacity Lockhart Stadium.

Fusion will be without top strikers Eric Wynalda, who is with the US national team competing in the Gold Cup, and Roy Lassiter, who is embroiled in contract negotiations with the MLS.

The tour is in preparation for Bermuda's World Cup and Olympic qualifiers coming up over the next two months.

All smiles: Members of the touring Bermuda national soccer squads wait at the airport yesterday before flying off to Orlando, Florida, for a series of matches and intensive training. More than 40 players and officials are included in the travelling party.

All American heroes: Eric Wynalda (number 11), who is ruled out of Sunday's match between his club Miami Fusion and Bermuda by Gold Cup duty for his country, celebrates after creating a goal for US team-mate Jovan Kirovski against Haiti last Saturday.