Updated: Oct 15, 2024 9:23 p.m

Team spirit was a feature of Bermuda’s 6-1 victory over Dominica in the Nations League on Saturday (Photo by Blaire Simmons)

Bermuda footballers will head into their next Concacaf Nations League game against Dominica on Tuesday evening with great confidence.

It would be hard not to get carried away knowing that you are playing against the same team just three days after the 6-1 win, with the returning Nahki Wells scoring from all angles and opposing captain Briel Thomas after being sent off in the Game on Saturday evening is closed for the season.

But confidence can sometimes lead to complacency and head coach Michael Findlay, who eloquently expressed his pride in the team’s performance after the weekend’s stunning win, is warning his players to expect more from Dominica this time around.

“We seemed to fade in the first 15 to 20 minutes of the second half because of the early success we had, and that’s the next challenge we’re going to have,” Findlay said.

“We can’t go into Tuesday thinking this is just going to happen again because they go away, lick their wounds and come back very annoyed.

In international football, games are close together, with only 72 hours between the two Nations League games, and Findlay had a lot to do, analyzing the game in parallel and ensuring any injuries were treated and the Players can recover as quickly as possible.

“First and foremost it’s about rest and regeneration,” said Findlay.

“It’s a quick turnaround like in international football, but we’ll look at the film, the selection, we’ll look at what we think we did well, but we’ll definitely keep the tempo high.”

“That’s why we brought people in, because we wanted to make sure we had enough in the tank to get going again on Tuesday. We will look at it, make our decisions and deal with any changes that may or may not occur.”

A feature of the win against Dominica was the palpable team spirit among Bermuda’s players. Each goal sparked a sprint from just about everyone on the field to the scorer, Bar goalkeeper Dale Eve, and Findlay wants to emphasize the team’s unity.

“From a mental point of view it’s really nice to see that and you saw the players cheering. They’re a very tight-knit group and they’re a group that has felt bad about some results lately,” Findlay said.

“I’m more excited for her and what it means for her confidence. Hopefully we can reset and put in a similar performance on Tuesday night because that’s what we need if we want to be in the final on November 19th and have a chance of winning the Gold Cup.

“That means achieving similar results on Tuesday. We definitely need three points, but if we can achieve something similar we would be very happy.”

With a hat-trick and an assist, the returning Nahki Wells obviously attracted most of the attention, but the result reflected a near-flawless performance and the coach wants to ensure players in all departments receive the praise their performance deserves.

“No one can deny that the quality of Nahki Wells will always transform the team,” said Findlay.

“We hope everyone here is fit, healthy and ready for selection, but we have also included some players who have worked very hard and who have also got on the scoresheet.

“We also know that if we are safe at the back, we can be successful at the front.

“You can see that we are a team that likes to manipulate the ball. We want to play in such a way that our back four and our goalkeepers have the ball. We want this because we believe that if we control the tempo and pace of the game, we are likely to have more success over time.

“I’m happy with the defense and I’m happy with Dale and I know they’re going to be upset because they let a goal in.”