One of the biggest challenges national coach Kevin Davies will face in the first game of the home-and-away series with Panama will be finding the right mix of players. Since there are only a handful on the island, preparing a team for a September 2 showdown may be difficult.
Several of the players that competed in the first round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers are back in college or with their respective clubs. They left about a week ago to start their season. And even though training sessions were held before prior to them leaving, the upcoming weeks are considered crucial in terms of team preparation. The first game in the series is an away match for The Bahamas, with the second penciled in for October 7, at the Roscow Davies Field.
The Bahamas Football Association (BFA) has yet to name the official
members of the squad, but deep down Davies knows that the team's outlook may be the same. As a result, he said his focus is getting the guys competition ready and not on who is here and who left. He believes that the years playing together will assist with the much-needed win in Panama, no matter who is named.
"The team is looking good, unfortunately most of the guys have already returned to school or their clubs so I have lost probably half of the guys," said Davies. "But the guys that are here, they are mixed in with some of the youth players. They are still working hard and getting fit. So things are looking on the up for us. We will have that cohesiveness that is needed for the win, because they have played together before. Obviously, we won't be as knitted as we would like because a number of guys are not here. It is what it is and we just have to work extra hard with what we have."
The Bahamas has joined 34 other countries from the North, Central America and Caribbean region in the second round. The qualifying teams were divided into six groups of four­  with The Bahamas playing out of Group C with Panama, Dominica and Nicaragua. A group win will be the only way the local team can move onto round three, where they will meet up with Cuba and Honduras.
Other countries competing in the second round are El Salvador, Suriname, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Grenada, Guatemala, St. Vincent/Grenadines, Belize, Haiti, Antigua and Barbuda, Curacao and the US Virgin Islands.
Only six squads have already been named to round three, they are USA, Jamaica, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras and Cuba. The Bahamas moved on to the second round after sweeping the Turks and Caicos Islands in July, this summer. Several key players were unable to play in this round due to injury, but Davies confirmed that those players are healed and now practicing.
He said: "I am able to say that they are healthy, except for one guy who has a little nagging problem, but it is nothing serious. I am sure that we will field a strong team.
"The only thing that I want us to change is to get stronger defensively and work more on finishing. In this next stage, the games won't be that easy. I am not saying that they were easy the first time, but we are expecting a stiffer competition. We know the scoring opportunities won't be as frequent or often. The ones that we will get, I want to make sure and put those away."
The team will be ratified by the BFA early next week. Training continues at the national field, located in the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex.

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