HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – Bermuda and Puerto Rico will gear up for their respective 2018 World Cup second-round qualifiers by meeting in a friendly international at the National Sports Centre here next month, officials have announced.
Bermuda reached the second round by eliminating Bahamas 8-0 on aggregate and will now face Guatemala, while Puerto Rico, who had a first-round bye, take on Grenada.
Grenada drew 2-2 and lost 2-0 in two friendlies against Bermuda here in March.
Bermuda’s friendly against Puerto Rico is set for June 6 – six days before Bermuda take on Guatemala in Guatemala City, with the return leg here on June 16.
Eric Labrador, president of the Puerto Rico Football Federation, told the Royal Gazette newspaper they planned to bring a strong side to Bermuda. “The friendly game is one week before our first game of World Cup qualification with Grenada, so Bermuda is a very important game for us,” Labrador said.
“We are going to fly the whole team to Bermuda.”
Puerto Rico, who are 167th in the FIFA rankings, 39 places behind Bermuda, are scheduled to arrive on June 4.
While Bermuda thrashed the Bahamas, they can expect a far tougher assignment against Guatemala, ranked 90th, who also had a first-round bye.
Bermuda took on Puerto Rico in two friendly matches here in 2008, losing the first game 2-0 and the second 1-0.