governing body of soccer.

Southampton Rangers were shaken by the news of the suspension of their top scorer this weekend even though coach Gary Darrell had been anticipating that some disciplinary action would be taken against his player.

Tucker's ban, which applies to both international and domestic matches, came into effect last week. His conduct during the second leg of the Olympic qualifying tie against Costa Rica in Costa Rica in August prompted FIFA's punishment.

The low point of Bermuda's 5-0 defeat came when Tucker was given a red card after kicking Sergio Morales in the back and allegedly making an obscene gesture to the fans who jeered him as he walked off the field of play.

Mark Trott, coach of the Bermuda team, said yesterday that he didn't see the incident and therefore could not comment on the ban.

"I had gone to the tunnel and didn't see what was going on,'' said Trott.

Darrell said, "I was alerted about possible action being taken against Janeiro some time ago. I am disappointed for him. I don't know what the circumstances were that led to the ban other than the fact that he was sent off in Costa Rica and allegedly made some gesture to the crowd,'' said Darrell.

Tucker's extended absence is bound to hurt Southampton, despite the fact that they beat St. George's without him on Sunday when he was serving a one-match ban.

The triumph enabled Southampton to reach the Dudley Eve Trophy for the first time in many years.

"We knew going into the game that a victory would get us through and secure us a spot. When we entered the game without Janeiro, we realised that we needed somebody else to score goals. We have been talking about not having to depend solely on one individual for a while,'' said Darrell.

"Of all of our 11 goals he has scored eight so it's clear to see what impact he has made in our attack so far this season. But we reinforced the point that the team needs to step up a gear and as it turned out Tillman Darrell had a good game on Sunday and could have had a couple of goals.'' Darrell admitted, however, that the sending off of Neil Paynter, the anchor in the St. George's defence, had helped Southampton create scoring chances.

"Without Janeiro it will be tough on us. He is a good versatile player and any team will miss his presence. But I am just hoping that the other guys will show a bit more responsibility than they did on Sunday. If they accept the fact that we cannot depend on Janeiro any more for a while then everybody can concentrate on lifting their own game to help us cope,'' said the coach.

JANEIRO TUCKER -- FIFA ban will keep him off the field for three months.