Scouting Bermuda - a.k.a. Hunting Hogges

By: Jeff | February 20th, 2007

Apart from the regular ol’ roster, the New England Revolution’s official website is silent as to the specific players they took with them on their preseason tour of Bermuda - a.k.a. The Battle for Bermuda. The only other “Bermuda-specific” item on the page is a fly-on-the-wall/Tiger Beat-style write-up about the monkeyshines and “up with kids” public appearances the team is making in Bermuda. Not to denigrate professional teams meeting with the little ones - the kids seem to dig that sort of thing - but it doesn’t help much by way of figuring out how the Revs look going into their preseason; though is was good to read that all of Bermuda pulled for the Revolution in last year’s MLS Cup final. I can at least report that the team’s heads seem to be in the right place: the local press reports the Revolution are “playing to win.”

Seeing as I can’t out much about the Revs, I thought I’d do some digging on their opposition for tonight’s game (given the time difference between where I am and Bermuda, it’s possible this one’s already underway). As I understand it, they’ll face a “Bermuda All-Star Select” team, which, in practice looks like it will be the Bermuda Hogges. But scouting this Hogges is far from easy. To begin, the official Hogges’ website remains under construction; their 2007 season schedule, when they’ll compete as part of the United Soccer League’s Division II, is posted, but it seems they haven’t yet plugged in a roster for the USL’s site. This last detail is particularly strange given that a February 9 article in Bermuda’s Royal Gazette states rather plainly, “[presently] the team has a roster of 25 players – three of who will be paid as full-time professionals with the remainder of the squad classified as ‘part-timers.’”

With that dry well duly pumped, and with a clear chance that the Hogges roster is roughly synonymous with the Bermudian National Team, another tack suggests itself: looking into the performance of Bermudian National Team. The team saw its most recent action in the 2007 Digicel Cup, a tournament among Caribbean teams that serves as a qualifier for CONCACAF Gold Cup. After dominating Group C in the opening round (details - scroll down), where they ran roughshod over the U.S. Virgin Islands (6-0) and the Dominican Republic (3-1) - they struggled upon reaching the second stage (keeping scrolling down). A third-place finish in their second stage Group G forced them into a two-leg playoff versus Haiti; and this is where the story ends. According to the two write-ups (first leg and second leg) in the Royal Gazette the story ended badly indeed (from second piece):

“Kyle Lightbourne’s men simply had no answer to a well-drilled Haitian outfit who were superior to their opponents in every single facet of the game…Bermuda’s defensive frailty, lack of pace and limited preparation were cruelly exposed once again.”

The take-away from all that is, tonight, the New England Revolution will face a team: 1) considerably better than the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic, 2) that can hang with Barbados, St. Vincent & Grenandines, the Bahamas, and, 3) a sight worse than Haiti in the local press’ estimation. By way of reference, though, their recent performance in the Digicel Cup is apparently the best-ever for Bermuda.

Some locals see Bermudian soccer as being on an up, not least because the considerable cash injection recently provided by the Bermuda Football Association. And the general signs look decent. Writing as a Revs’ fan, let’s just hope one of the obstacles they move on their way up isn’t a New England team looking to find its feet on the way into 2007.