Lee returns as Wells is ruled out
Andrew Bascome, the Bermuda coach, has named a 20-man squad for his team’s first leg second-round World Cup qualifier against a much-fancied Guatemala.
The travelling party head to Guatemala City today, where they will take on the Central Americans on Friday at the Estadio Nacional Mateo Flores — the largest stadium in the country.
In the absence of Nahki Wells, the Bermuda captain, who ruled himself out of the trip because of an ankle injury, Bascome has named professionals Rai Simons, Jonté Smith and Reggie Lambe among the forwards.
Defender Roger Lee is back in the fold after missing the first-round tie against Bahamas through injury after his solid display against Puerto Rico in last Friday’s friendly at the National Stadium.
Experienced midfielder Damon Ming, 36, also returns to the squad after playing no part in the Bahamas games because of club commitments with Dandy Town Hornets.
Bermuda will be the heavy underdogs against Guatemala, who warmed up for the game with a 5-1 friendly defeat away to star-studded Uruguay at the weekend.
Uruguay rounded off their Copa America preparations with a dominant display against Guatemala in their final friendly before the tournament starts in Chile on Friday.
Diego Rolan of Bordeaux opened the scoring in the fourth minute, before Edinson Cavani, the Paris Saint-Germain striker, scored a tap-in on 19 minutes after a horrible back-pass from Paulo Motto, the Guatemala goalkeeper.
On the half-hour mark, Cavani made sure of victory with a calmly taken penalty low into the bottom left-hand corner.
The goals continued in the second half with Giorgian De Arrascaeta, who plays for Brazilian side Cruzeiro, scoring his first international goal from inside the six-yard box.
Abel Hernández, the Hull City striker, made it 5-0 with a powerful drive on 57 minutes, collecting the ball inside the box before rifling his shot into the top corner.
With 12 minutes remaining, Wilson Lalin pulled a goal back for Guatemala, bundling the ball over the line from close range.
Guatemala have lost three of their four friendlies this year, with defeats to Canada (1-0), Mexico (3-0), as well as drawing 0-0 with El Salvador.
Bermuda take on Guatemala at 11pm (Bermuda time).
Bermuda: Goalkeepers: F Hall, D Eve. Defenders: R Lee, K Elkinson, J Bather, T Burgess, D Leverock, J Harvey. Midfielders: D Bascome, T Ming, M Hill, K Bean, Z Lewis, D Ming. Forwards: R Lambe, J Smith, J Donawa, R Simons, L Simmons, A Simmons.
