the Bermuda national team.
"It's a good thing that I can check out that game on my Blackberry and then concentrate on the Patriots," he said.
Bermuda kicks off all of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, playing host to the Cayman Islands at Bermuda National Stadium in Hamilton. It will begin a 22-month process to determine at least three and perhaps four teams from the region that will participate at the 2010 World Cup in Africa. Six other games will be played Wednesday (the USA will meet the winner of the Dominica-Barbados series in June).
Smith would rather be in Bermuda, helping his teammates against Cayman Islands but he hasn't fully recovered from sports hernia surgery in late December.
"It's very difficult," he said. "I'm definitely bummed out.
"That's how I got my job, playing for Bermuda."
Indeed.
Smith attracted the attention of Revolution coach Steve Nicol as he scored in Bermuda's 3-2 loss to New England in Hamilton, Bermuda on March 3, 2005.
"They offered me a contract on the way home," said Smith, who has helped the Revolution reach the MLS Cup three years in a row.
As of today, Smith cannot play for any of his two teams. "I'm still feeling some pain," he said. "I'm able to train, but I'm not 100 percent."
Smith said that he might get a cortisone shot to help things out after deciding not to undergo another operation.
Bermuda coach Kevin Tucker, the former coach at Howard University, felt that Smith won't be missed, at least not in the first game. Domico Coddington of the Devonshire Cougars of the Bermudan league is expected to be Smith's replacement.
"We're actually pretty strong in that part of the field," Tucker told FIFA.com. "I have made preparations knowing that we might be without Khano and this will give an opportunity to some of the younger guys coming up."
Tucker called Coddington, an "exciting entertainer in fine form at the moment."
But without Smith in the lineup, Bermuda dropped a pair of games to a lowly, but improved, Puerto Rico side that included a number of former MLS players, including ex-Red Bulls defender Graham Taylor, former MetroStars midfielder Petter Villegas and emergency back-up goalkeeper Mike Behonick.
Smith is hoping for a big Bermudan win in the first leg of the total goals series, so he won't be called in for the second encounter on March 26. The Revs open at home against Houston Dynamo on March 29 and Smith doesn't want to miss the rematch of the 2007 MLS Cup, unless the second leg is a must-win situation.
"It's going to be a tough call," he said. "Hopefully, they'll deal with it. They won't ask for my services if we win, 3-0 or 4-0."
But if he is called in, he will serve.
"If I've got to go, I've got to go," Smith said. "I can't leave my country stranded."
Smith is confident Bermuda will prevail Sunday.
"I think the players we have can definitely beat them," he said. "They'll be fine."
After the retirement of Shaun Goater, the 25-year-old Smith has become the focal point of a national team that is made up of mostly part-time amateur players. Forward John Barry Nusum, who plies his trade with the Philadelphia KiXX (Major Indoor Soccer League), is another pro who has been called in for Sunday's game.
The team has been training several times a week for almost five months, Smith said.
"That's the advantage of being a small country," he said. "We can practice all the time."
If Bermuda wins, it will take on Trinidad & Tobago in June.
"They're not unbeatable," Smith said.
Smith remembered what former Bermuda coach Ken Thompson said: "We're never too small to dream."
"We'll keep trying until we get knocked out," Smith said.
Bermuda's best World Cup run came during the 1994 qualifying when it reached the CONCACAF semifinal round, but finished last in its four-team group at 1-3-2 behind El Salvador, Canada and Jamaica.
"The country was buzzing around the team," Smith said.
Every Caribbean country that likes to point to the success of Jamaica (1998) and Trinidad & Tobago (2006), countries with populations of 2.7 million and 1.3 million, respectively, that qualified for the World Cup. Bermuda, with a population of only 65,000, would have to be considered more of a long shot.
But Bermudan players, citizens and Smith can dream about qualifying for the World Cup some day.
"I'd be ecstatic," Smith said, if that actually happened. "It would be a life changing experience for the players. I don't think there would be a lot of people left in Bermuda. All of them would be at the World Cup. It would be bad, but it would be great."
Smith noted the excitement generated when Bermuda participated in the Cricket World Cup last year. The tournament was held in the Caribbean. Bermuda finished last out of 16 teams, but it didn't matter back home.
"I'm sure it would be twice as big as the cricket team," he said. "They had players who worked for the telephone company and electric company. Everyday guys turned heroes."
Smith hopes that he and his teammates will get that opportunity as well.
Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News and is editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
