Bermuda will take on Cuba today in the first of two Caribbean Cup first-round qualifying matches in five days.

The island’s team face Cuba at the Pedro Marrero Stadium in Havana before returning home to host French Guiana in their remaining group three match on Saturday at the National Stadium, National Sports Centre.

Today’s match between Bermuda and Cuba kicks off at 2.30pm (Bermuda time).

Attempts to interview from team staff yesterday were unsuccessful, with David Sabir, the Bermuda Football Association general secretary, admitting that “communication isn’t easy from Cuba.”

In their previous outing Bermuda lost 3-0 away to St Kitts and Nevis in a Caribbean Cup warm-up last month. The defeat prompted harsh criticism from Andrew Bascome, the Bermuda head coach, who said that his team simply were not good enough.

It should be pointed, however, that Bermuda were missing overseas professionals Nahki Wells, of Huddersfield Town, Reggie Lambe, of Mansfield Town, Rai Simons, of Chesterfield, and Dale Eve, of Forest Green Rovers.

Wells, the Bermuda captain, and Simons have also made themselves unavailable for the two Caribbean Cup first-round qualifying games, opting instead to remain with their clubs in England.

Bascome said his team’s defeat against St Kitts was a wake-up call for Bermuda and a sad indictment on the state of the local game.

“What we do day-to-day at the local level just isn’t good enough,” he said in a previous interview. “St Kitts showed that they are a level above what we see at the local game.

“We have to step up and be honest and humble and realise we need to do more both individually and collectively.

“We must continue to work on our game every day and be doing something with the ball to keep our touch sharp.

“We have to realise that if the local players want to play at this level they have to make sure they get the right diet, commitment and the right fitness.”

Bermuda’s squad has since undergone a major facelift, with more than half of the squad based overseas, either in college in the United States and Canada or playing professional or semi-professional football in England.

Bermuda arrived in Cuba at the weekend for final preparations ahead of today’s match against Cuba, who are ranked 29 places above them in 135th in the Fifa world rankings.

Bermuda have not competed in the Caribbean Cup since 2012 when Bascome’s side, without several of their key players, failed to qualify from their group, losing 2-1 to Puerto Rico, 3-1 to host nation Haiti before finishing off with an 8-0 thrashing of St Martin.

Cuba were the first Caribbean team to reach the World Cup, which they did in 1938. They defeated Romania in a replay 2—1 after drawing against them 3—3. They were then eliminated in the quarter-finals after losing to Sweden 8—0. Cuba finished second in the Caribbean Cup in 1996, 1999 and 2005 and won the 2012 tournament.

The format of the Caribbean Cup has been altered with countries now to play against each once rather than the original format which would have featured home and away legs.

Each match must also have a winner, with extra time and penalty kicks in the event a game is level after 90 minutes.

Another amendment to the format now sees only the top two countries from each of the seven groups advancing to the second round to be played May 15 to 21, and not the top two plus the next best team as originally planned.

The third round of the competition will be played October 3 to 11, with the finals to take place in 2017.

The top four Caribbean nations will qualify for the next year’s Concacaf Gold Cup, which will be held from July 9 to 30.

Squad

Bermuda: D Bascome, N Griffith, J Bather, R Lambe, K Bean, D Bell, A Russell, Z Lewis, J Raynor, T Ming, J Donawa, D Ming, D Eve, J Minors, R Lee, L Simmons, D Leverock, J Smith, M Warren, K Elkinson. Coaches: A Bascome (head coach), K Lightbourne (assistant coach).