High praise for Bermuda's goalkeeper

hamilton, bermuda, cmc

Bermuda's national coach Keith Tucker has praised veteran goalkeeper Timmy Figuerido after Bermuda advanced to the next round of 2010 CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers by beating the Cayman Islands on Sunday night.

Bermuda's 3-1 win at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex gave them a 4-2 aggregate victory and set up a meeting with regional powerhouses Trinidad and Tobago in the next round of qualifiers in June.

Determined Cayman side

Figuerido spared Bermuda's blushes against a determined Cayman side, coached by Jamaican Carl Brown, with a string of outstanding saves to keep his side in the game.

"If it hadn't been for Timmy we could have been three down early on," Tucker told the Royal Gazette.

"He made some great saves for us, and we got off the hook. Timmy was superb for us, but once we settled down we really made them work.

"Cayman came at us straight away and we had to withstand a lot of pressure and be strong, but there is no doubt we were the better team, and deserved the victory.

"Now we can start looking ahead towards the Trinidad and Tobago match."

In the end, a first-half brace from Sammy DeGraff and a second-half strike from skipper Kwame Steede saw Bermuda through, the Caymanians getting on the scoresheet with a 63-minute penalty by Marshall Forbes.

The teams drew 1-1 in the first leg in Bermuda.

Tucker praised DeGraff, who put in a fine display.

"Sammy is a great guy. He?ll always scrap for you, and run and run," said Tucker.

"He scored a couple of great goals for us, and he'll work for you for the entire 90 minutes - that?s why we love him.