"Favourable".
That’s the word used by Barbados Football Association (BFA) Technical Director Ahmed Mohamed, to describe the announcement of his opponent for the inaugural Concacaf Gold Cup Preliminary Round.
Concacaf hosted an event to announce the match-ups for next summer’s final round of qualifiers for the Gold Cup and also reveal the groups for the main competition. Barbados will face a familiar opponent in Bermuda, who are seeking to qualify for their second consecutive confederation tournament, while the Tridents will be aiming to create history by qualifying for their first major international tournament. The last time these teams faced each other, Mohamed was the man in charge, where he engineered a breath-taking comeback in 2017 in Hamilton, Bermuda, where Barbados overcame a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 and then a couple months later played to a 0-0 tie at the Usain Bolt Sports Complex.
Mohamed said he knows the Bermuda team quite well and noticed that they have made just three changes from the team he faced two years ago, therefore not only cementing his familiarity but he is also aware of the threat their homogeneity may prove to be. Since 2018, Barbados has made a number of significant changes, such as appointing former Trinidad & Tobago international player and coach Russell Latapy and most notably the additions of European professionals Hallam Hope and Nick Blackman.
The Preliminary Round will play in the United States between July 2 and 6, 2021. Barbados will play Bermuda in match number six, where the winner will move on to play either Haiti or St Vincent & the Grenadines who do battle in the opening game of the competition.
Mohamed mentioned that the COVID-19 situation does make it difficult to prepare, especially with international friendly matches however, he says the FIFA World Cup qualifiers scheduled for next March will serve as the perfect dress rehearsal for the Concacaf tournament.
“Before the Preliminary Round, it is the World Cup Qualifiers and we are going to use that as the Gold Cup Preliminary Round preparation.”
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