and ironically it was his 20th-minute pass on Sunday that set up the goal, which took Bermuda into the next round.

Last summer the talented Somerset Trojans midfielder hinted at retirement and at the midway stage of last season after losing to Boulevard in the Dudley Eve Trophy final he followed through with it, only to be lured out of retirement by Bermuda manager Gary Darrell.

Thompson, 27, had been coaching one of the junior teams at Somerset and was content to play mostly in the Alliance Division. "At the beginning of the season I had no intentions of playing,'' he admitted yesterday.

"Larry Hunt asked me to play for the First Division and in my first game I came off the bench and scored against Boulevard in the Martonmere Cup. I played until Christmas but it was taking a lot out of me and at that point I didn't see any change in the way I felt so shortly after that I announced my retirement.

"I couldn't find the energy to do the things that needed to be done and I didn't want to play for the heck of it.'' The motivation he needed came when Darrell let him know he still had something to offer to the national programme.

"He expressed interest in getting me back in the national programme because of plans to get involved in the World Cup,'' Thompson said. "I felt good about that and the very next day I was on the beach running to get in shape.'' A dream of competing in a World Cup match was about to be realised, which meant having more to aim at than just domestic competitions. "I don't want it to appear that Kenny Thompson wants to do what he wants to do but we need things like this to motivate our players,'' he said. "Hopefully this World Cup win will make things better and that people who can help out financially will do so.'' Thompson remembers vividly going to the National Stadium in 1979 as a 14-year-old to watch Bermuda succeed against the United States, Canada and Mexico in the Pan American Games qualifying tournament.

That success had him dreaming of one day playing for his country, and though he went on to do that at both the junior and senior levels, the programme went into a slump after that.

With so many influences from the American sports, Thompson sees the accomplishment of the Bermuda team as vital to the future of the game here with youngsters now being able to talk of possibly playing in the World Cup.

"We have to take full advantage of what has happened in this World Cup campaign,'' he added. "I don't think we took advantage of what happened in 1979. There was tremendous hype at the time but when you looked again there was no national programme.

"Also certain people, without asking, will step forward to assist. It's human nature to want to help out when things are going well. I told Gary after the game that had this match been a friendly we would have given up but this wasn't a friendly. We've played against tougher teams but the difference is there was something at stake.'' He added: "I think a lot of players grew up this weekend. It was nothing like I had experienced before and we got to see the real meaning of home advantage.

It certainly made a difference to the Haitians in Haiti.

"Everybody gave 100 percent commitment. We all know we didn't do as well as we could have but it wasn't about looking good but getting out of there with the result we needed. We had to absorb tremendous pressure.'' Thompson, who spent a year at Cleveland State with another former Bermuda midfielder Kevin Smith, plans to return to school in September. This time he is transferring to Howard University in Washington, D.C. and though he has lost his eligibility to play college soccer he is hoping to train with the team and get fixed up with a club team in the area.

Before he packs his bags he has another mission -- to help Bermuda get past Antigua in the next round and go on to compete in a four-team group for six home and away matches.

With just two days before the end of the transfer period, clubs are urged to bring in forms today so as to avoid a late rush tomorrow, BFA administrative assistant Joe L. Brown said last night.

The player registration forms can only be signed by club presidents, secretaries and assistant secretaries and for that reason the BFA is urging one of the three officials bring in the forms in case there is a problem.

So far just five transfers have been received, but with an average of 220 transfers in the last five years a TCD-type situation is anticipated with clubs and players again waiting until the last minute.

No forms will be received after 5 p.m. tomorrow.

DOWN BUT NOT OUT -- Kenny Thompson did plenty of defending in the second half of Sunday's match as Haiti came from behind to win 2-1.