Bognor's exciting young defender Alec Masson is the subject of a World Cup tug-of-war.

The Cayman Islands want the 19-year-old to play for them in a forthcoming World Cup qualifier against Cuba, but Northern Ireland are also keen for Masson to pledge his future to them.

Masson, who has just returned from making his international debut for the Cayman Islands in two friendlies against Jamaica, must make a decision this weekend on which country to play for.

He said: "I have got to make a decision. If I play for Cayman Islands against Cuba I can't play for Northern Ireland. But there are some big games coming up for Northern Ireland under-18s and under-19s as well."

Whatever decision he makes, Masson, unsurprisingly, is the first Bognor player to be called up for international duty. The 19-year-old had never stepped foot in the Cayman Islands before his call-up but last week he appeared twice against the Jamaican Reggae Boyz team which made such an impact at the 1998 World Cup finals in France.

Having been born in Germany, where his father was in the Army, Masson holds a British passport. The Cayman Islands were on the look-out for British-based players who held an open passport and Alec came to their attention.

He explained: "As a British colony, anyone with a British passport can play for them. One of their agents got in contact with me and asked if I would like to play in an international match with Jamaica. It was a big surprise. If anyone had said to me a month ago I would be playing in a World Cup qualifier, I would have laughed at them."

Masson returned to Sussex on Tuesday after winning two caps against Jamaica, as well as playing some practise matches against top Mexican side Cruz Azul. He said: "The games went very well. I started both of them and we drew 0-0 and lost 1-0. In the second match the likes of Marcus Gayle, Deon Burton and Frank Sinclair were all playing for them."

Masson has now been invited back across the Atlantic for the two-leg World Cup qualifier with Cuba. The winners progress to another knockout game before the final group phase emerges.

With just 25 clubs and 875 players, the tiny Cayman Islands have never done much on the international stage, which is why they have followed the lead of Jamaica by turning to British players.

The former Bath City youngster joined Bognor earlier in the season after deciding to do a PE teaching course at Chichester University.

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