Beach Soccer Thread

[Tallman]

T&T Beach Soccer teams to play in Bahamas Cup
TTFA Media

Trinidad and Tobago will be represented at the 2022 Bahamas Beach Soccer Cup with two national senior teams, Men’s and Women, jetting off to Nassau later this month.

The tournament is being hosted by the Bahamas Beach Soccer Association in collaboration with Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) and will include the national teams of Colombia, Costa Rica, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos and Trinidad and Tobago.

T&T Women’s team will commence the Women’s tournament on October 21st against Turk and Caicos and close off the group stage against Bahamas on October 23rd at the Beach Soccer Stadium, Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge in Nassau.

On the men’s side, T&T will take on hosts Bahamas on October 21st before meeting Colombia on October 22nd and Costa Rica a day later in the group stage.

This tournament will serve as the commencement of preparations for the 2023 CONCACAF Beach Soccer World Cup qualifiers. Details on the T&T teams heading off to Nassau will be disclosed later this week.

The TTFA at this time also wishes to extend congratulations and best wishes to Trinidad and Tobago’s Sham Mohammed who has been appointed President of the Caribbean Region for Beach Soccer Worldwide, the organization that handles FIFA’s Beach Soccer tournaments and other global competitions for beach soccer.

We at the TTFA wish to extend congratulations to Mr Mohammed on his appointment as President of the Caribbean Region and we look forward to working with him on the development and promotion of Beach Soccer in the region. The TTFA sees this as an exciting development for the game in our region and anticipate future collaborations among all parties concerned.

The position was announced by Beach Soccer Worldwide President Luis Felipe Tavares in Sao Paulo, Brazil a week ago following a meeting in the city with Mohammed. Mohammed, who is the CEO of Miscellaneous Marketing, has also held the position of Vice President of the Beach Soccer Worldwide Foundation for the past three years and will continue to hold that post.

Today, BSWW is responsible for the organisation of more than 300 top-class international events in 30+ countries involving up to 200 national teams and clubs, in both men’s and women’s categories.

Since being founded, Beach Soccer Worldwide has established a solid international calendar, with long-running competitions such as the Euro Beach Soccer League, the Mundialito, the Intercontinental Cup, the Euro Winners Cup, the World Cup Qualifiers and the Mundialito de Clubes, amongst others, as well as creating the World Championships in 1994, the seed of today’s FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup (created after the collaboration agreement between BSWW and FIFA signed in 2004).

Beyond the international competition sphere, Beach Soccer Worldwide works closely with the National Football Associations and the six confederations to help develop the sport in all territories, including development programs, grassroots projects, consultancy for National Championships, women’s beach soccer development and other programs to strengthen the growth of the sport region by region, country by country.

Beach Soccer Worldwide is aligned with some of the world’s best-known brands and organisations as its global partners, including PUMA, UNAOC, IQONIQ and Genius, who understand the true value and potential beach soccer has in reaching and interacting with a cross-section of audiences all over the world, as well as with big broadcasters that bring the beach soccer action live to more than 250 million households in 180+ Countries.

[Flex]

T&T rosters named for Beach Soccer Cup.
TTFA Media.

Chad Appoo will serve as head coach for this country’s Men and Women’s Beach Soccer Teams that will participate in the 2022 Bahamas Beach Soccer Cup which takes place at the Beach Soccer Stadium, Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge in Nassau October 21-23

T&T’s Women team will commence their campaign on October 21st against Turk and Caicos and close off the group stage against Bahamas on October 23rd.

On the men’s side, T&T will take on hosts Bahamas on October 21st before meeting Colombia on October 22nd and Costa Rica a day later in the group stage. Both T&T teams arrived in Nassau on Wednesday.

This tournament will serve as the commencement of preparations for the 2023 CONCACAF Beach Soccer World Cup qualifiers as well as the CAC Games in Colombia in November.

Appoo has been a standout player for the T& Beach Soccer Men’s Team for over a decade and will lead the team in the absence of former captain Ryan Augustine who also served as coach/player during the previous Concacaf Beach Soccer qualifiers.

The teams comprise of experienced and youthful players with the Men’s outfit including four players from the team that captured the silver medal at the 2017 Commonwealth U-18 Championship in Bahamas. Those players are Jordan Riley, Anderson Peters, Omni Baird and Kevon Williams.

Among the experienced bunch are goalkeeper Zane Coker, attacker Dominic Mc Dougall,who both played in Europe and in Champions league, the country’s most capped Beach Soccer player Jesse Bailey with Janeke Danzell and Keston Guy being two of the newcomers.

ROSTERS

T&T Men’s Team

Jesse Bailey   Jordan Riley   Male   
Zane Coker   Akinola Gregory   Male   
Shane Hospedales   Anderson Peters   Male   
Janeke Danzell   Joash Baird   Male   
Kevon Williams   Keston Guy   Male    
Dominic Mc Dougall   Omri Baird   Male

T&T Women’s Team

Summer Arjoon  senior   Tisha Belfon   Female    
Adanya Phillip u18   Nia Honore u18   Female    
Aliyah Prince  senior   Shaunalee Govia senoir    Female    
Tsai Ann Fernandez u18   Alexcia Ali   Female    
Tenesha Palmer senior   Daniella Finley  senior   Female

On the Women’s side, three members of the Gold Medal winning team from the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games are included. They are Nia Honore, Tsai Ann Fernandez and Adanya Phillip. They are joined by National Women’s Senior Team Players for the regular version of the game, Summer Arjoon, Aaliyah Prince, Tenesha Palmer, Shaunalee Govia and Daniella Findley.

Also attending the Bahamas Beach Soccer Cup will be recently appointed President of the Caribbean Region for Beach Soccer Worldwide, T&T’s Sham Mohammed. He is expected to hold meetings with Bahamas FA President Anton Sealy and other officials about the staging of additional Beach Soccer events to further develop and promote the sport in the region.

[Flex]

Trinidad and Tobago women win, men lose at Beach Soccer Cup.
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday).

TRINIDAD and Tobago women's and men’s beach soccer teams recorded contrasting results on the opening day of the 2022 Bahamas Beach Soccer Cup at the Beach Soccer Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas on Friday.

The T&T women defeated Turks and Caicos 8-0 in their opening match.

Tsai Ann Fernandez and Alexcia Ali were the star players for T&T scoring two goals apiece.

Fernandez, Nia Honore and Aliyah Prince were all target in the first period to give T&T a 3-0 lead at the end of the opening period.

Ali and Adanya Phillip found the back of the net in the second period to give T&T a 5-0 advantage.

Ali and Fernandez both scored their second goals of the match in the third period, before Summer Arjoon rounded off the scoring to make it 8-0.

The T&T men had a disappointing third period and lost 7-4 to Bahamas.

A goal from Zane Coker and a brace from Jordan Riley helped T&T lead Bahamas 3-2 at the end of the first period.

Bahamas equalised in the second period as the contest was all square 3-3.

In the third period, Bahamas outscored T&T 4-1 as the home team prevailed with a 7-4 victory. Kevon Williams scored for T&T in the last period.

The T&T men played Colombia after press time on Saturday and the T&T women will face Bahamas on Sunday.

[Tallman]

Trinidad and Tobago Beach Soccer Women crowned champions in Bahamas, Men stun Costa Rica
TTFA Media

Trinidad and Tobago’s Women were crowned winners of the Bahamas Beach Soccer Cup after defeating hosts Bahamas 11-6 in Sunday night’s closing fixture at the Beach Soccer Stadium in Nassau. And the Men’s team bounced back from consecutive losses to Bahamas and Colombia to pull off a come from behind 4-3 win over Costa Rica on Sunday as well.

For the women, tournament MVP and topscorer Alexcia Ali led the way with four goals while Summer Arjoon, Aliyah Prince and Shaunalee Govia scored a pair each and Adanya Phillip netted one. T&T fell behind 1-0 after just 29 seconds of play but settled well to take charge of the match. T&T’s Tenesha Palmer was named Goalkeeper of the tournament.

On the men’s side, two wonderful strikes by Jordan Riley, a penalty by David McDougall with one second left in the match and a winner in extra time by Jesse Bailey left Costa Rica stunned on the night.

Bahamas Men won the tournament with a 3-1 win over Colombia in Sunday after earlier wins over T&T and Costa Rica.

[Tallman]

Coach Appoo heartened by potential of T&T Beach Soccer team
By Joel Bailey (T&T Newsday)

CHAD APPOO, coach of the T&T men’s beach soccer team, is heartened by the potential shown by his squad at the Bahamas Beach Soccer Cup.

T&T earned a come-from-behind 4-3 extra-time victory over Costa Rica in their final match on Sunday, at the Beach Soccer Stadium in Nassau. Jordan Riley scored twice, and there was a goal apiece from David McDougall and Jesse Bailey.

This was T&T’s lone victory in the four-team group. On Friday, they fell to a 7-4 defeat to the hosts Bahamas and, on Saturday, they were trounced 6-0 by Colombia.

During a post-game interview on Sunday, Appoo said, “It was the third game in three days. It wasn’t easy because we went down by two goals, but the boys showed great fight. They stuck to the game plan and managed to pull of the win, in extra time.”

Asked about his thoughts on the team’s character, the T&T men’s coach replied, “Although we went down by two goals, we felt that we were pretty much in the game and actually playing some of the better football.

“The momentum was with us, the moment we got the first (goal). It’s important to not change during the game what was working for us.”

Reflecting on the tournament, Appoo said, “It’s my fifth time in the Bahamas, three times as a player and twice as a coach. These tournaments are always nice. For five of our players, they made their debuts so, obviously, this experience is going to be great.

“We have a tournament in Colombia coming up in just under three weeks or so,” he added. “Going into that, we have a little momentum with the win against a CONCACAF powerhouse in Costa Rica.”

Appoo pointed out, “Back home we have a lot of challenges. The quality of the sand that we play in these tournaments is different to what we train on at the Home of Football (in Couva).

“This tournament, we got invited late so we only had three days of proper prep back home before we came here. So, to pull off a win against a team like Costa Rica shows the potential for us going forward.

“We have a huge pool of players. We have other players showing interest so we’re looking forward to just (playing) more and hopefully one day we can host our own tournament, similar to this, in Trinidad and Tobago.”

Appoo is not ruling out the prospect of making a comeback, as a player.

“I really enjoy passing on my knowledge, having played in Europe for a number of years,” he said. “I feel as if I can give back. We’ve had a number of foreign coaches in the past, all credit and respect to them, but I think the relationship I have, being a player not so long ago, also helps when we come into these tournaments.

“I’m not ruling it out completely, I think being a player/coach will be a challenge so it will have to be as a player or as a coach for now. So, we’ll see what happens going forward.”

TT won the women’s division at the Bahamas Beach Soccer Cup, after defeating the Bahamas 11-6 in their final match on Sunday.

Tenesha Palmer, who is also a member of the T&T women’s international team (grass), was adjudged as the division’s Best Goalkeeper. Sham Mohammed, president of the Beach Soccer Worldwide Caribbean Region, labelled the Bahamas Beach Soccer Cup as a “success”.

“Hats off to Anton Sealey, the president of the Bahamian FA, and his team, for having a successful event,” Mohammed said. “Having teams like Costa Rica and Colombia playing against the Caribbean teams is great.”

Mohammed added, “Being in the position that I’m in now, gives me the opportunity to invite Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean countries to participate in events like this, throughout the Caribbean; developing the sport and taking it to another level.”

[Flex]

Trinidad and Tobago beach soccer teams start World qualifiers
T&T Newsday Reports.

THE T&T men’s and women’s beach soccer teams arrived in El Salvador on Wednesday to contest the ANOC World Beach Games Qualifiers.

The tournament will take place at the Costa del Sol National Stadium from Thursday to Saturday.

The event will feature 11 national teams, including seven in the men’s category and four in the women’s. The top two men’s and women’s teams in the tournament will qualify for the next ANOC World Beach Games 2023 to be held in Bali, Indonesia from August 5 to 12.

The men’s category will consist of a knock-out tournament in which the winners of the two semi-finals will obtain their ticket to the ANOC World Beach Games.

The seven men’s teams participating are T&T, El Salvador, United States, Bahamas, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Belize.

In the women’s category, the four teams will play in a league format, with three matchdays, in which the two best teams will qualify for the ANOC World Beach Games.

TT men will meet Bahamas in a knock-out fixture at 6.15 pm on Thursday. The women will begin group action at 9 pm against El Salvador, followed by matches against the US and Bahamas on Friday.

Both teams will also use this as preparation for the Concacaf Beach Soccer World Cup qualifiers in Bahamas in May. The T&T women are coming off their successful participation at the 2022 Bahamas Beach Soccer Cup where they won the title.

A TTFA media release on Wednesday said, “The TTFA also wished to acknowledge the TT Beach Soccer Association for its efforts in securing the necessary resources for the teams’ build-up and participation at the current Games in El Salvador.”

For more info: https://beachsoccer.com/

T&T SQUADS

WOMEN: Tenesha Palmer (goal-keeper, captain), Tsai Anne Fernandez (vice-captain, Shauna Lee Govia, Alexcia Ali, Aaliyah Prince, Adanya Phillip, Tisha Belfon, Summer Arjoon, Selinia Isaac, Ketara Munroe, Daniella Findley, Crystal Ann Taylor-Lewis (goal-keeper),Chad Appoo (coach), Keston Guy (assistant coach), Arlene Paul (manager), Shanelle Greaves (physiotherapist).

MEN: Jesse Bailey (captain), Jabari Gray (goal-keeper, vice-captain), David Dominic Mc Dougall, Zane Coker (goal-keeper), Anderson Peters, Shane Hospedales, Tevyn Gill, Hakeem King, Jay-Son Joseph, Kevon Williams, Kareem Perry, Kairon Joseph, Chad Appoo (coach), Keston Guy (assistant coach), Yuri Chapman (manager), Joel Caresquero (physiotherapist), Dr Oba Gulston (head of delegation).

[Flex]

T&T men beach soccer team through to the semifinals.
TTFA Media.

"We are here for you"

Members of the Men's National Beach Soccer team welcome the T&T Women's Team back to the team hotel after they suffered a 5-2 loss to hosts El Salvador in the Women's category of the ANOC World Beach Games Qualifiers in San Salvador.

The men secured a 3-2 victory over former World Cup hosts Bahamas and booked their place in the semi finals of the ANOC World Beach Games Qualifiers in San Salvador on Thursday night.

The men’s tournament consists of a knockout competition, where the two finalists will qualify for the ANOC World Beach Games 2023, while the women’s competition will be played in a league format where the top two teams will earn a place in Bali.

T&T, coached by Chad Appoo, got goals from Jabari Gray, Hakeem King and Anderson Peters. T&T men are one win away from qualifying for the World Beach Games in Bali.

[Flex]

Our Men's Beach Soccer team fell 5-0 to the United States in today's ANOC Beach Games World Qualifiers semi final match in San Salvador. It means they have been eliminated and are out of the qualifying race for the World Beach Games in Bali.

The Women also lost 7-2 to the US today and will not progress in the tournament. - TTFA MEDIA.

[Flex]

T&T Beach Soccer women end on winning note.
By Nigel Simon (T&T Guardian).

T&T's beach soccer women ended their participation at the ANOC World Beach Games Qualifier El Salvador on a high with a 4-1 come-from-behind whipping of the Bahamas at the Costa del Sol National Stadium on Saturday.

Janeka Edey fired the Bahamians ahead, but T&T responded with a double from Adanya Phillip and one each from Daniella Findley and Alexcia Ali to close out their tournament on a high.

The win followed a 5-2 loss to host El Salvador in their opener on Thursday and a 7-2 defeat at the hands of USA on Friday.

The USA got off to a rapid start with a brace from Kilee Quigley followed by goals from Lauren Leslie and Hannah Adler to put them ahead 4-0.

In the second half, Vanessa Lynn scored the fifth goal for the Americans, but Ketara Munreo got one back for T&T to make it 5-1. Ali Hall extended the lead to 6-1.

In the final period, the USA focused on maintaining possession and keeping the opponent away from their goal, and with six minutes to play, Hannah Adler scored the seventh goal, but Shaunalee Govia reduced the deficit by making it 7-2.

Also on Friday, El Salvador whipped the Bahamas 5-1 to improve to a 2-0 record as well ahead of their meeting with the USA for the top spot last night with both teams having secured the two tickets from the North- and Central America and the Caribbean to the World Beach Games Bali, Indonesia in August.

The T&T men ended in the fourth spot after losing their third-place playoff to Costa Rica 0-4 with Jeaustin Medina scoring twice, and Greivin Pacheco, and Christian Prado, the other scorers.

In the semifinals on Friday night and with a spot in Bali at stake, USA blanked T&T 5-0 with goals from Christopher Albiston and Cody Valcarcel scoring early on to put pressure on the Caribbean nation.

Trinidad and Tobago made attempts to score but struggled to create clear chances against the American goalkeeper, Christopher Toth, who only had to make a couple of interventions.

In the second period, the USA maintained possession of the ball for most of the time, creating more opportunities to score, but only managing to convert one more goal, scored by Gabriel Silveira to make it 3-0.

The fourth goal for the North American team came early in the third period, scored by Conner Rezende, and Álvaro Franco completed the 5-0 victory with the fifth goal.

The semifinal between the host team and Costa Rica was a match of high intensity and great emotion from start to finish with EL Salvador securing a 4-2 penalty shoot-out win after an enthralling 5-5 draw.

In the penalties shoot-out, Frank Velásquez, Óscar Cruz, Darwin Ramírez and Melvin Quinteros scored for El Salvador, while Christian Prado and Ratchith Gómez were the only ones able to convert their shots for Costa Rica, as captain Greivin Pacheco and Jonaiker Gamboa missed their turn.

The Bahamas defeated Belize 7-3 in the first game of Friday’s session to set up a meeting with Guatemala for the fifth spot which the latter won, 2-1.

YESTER NEWS

T&T beach soccer men victorious, women beaten.
By Hakeem King (T&T Express).

Trinidad and Tobago’s men defeated Bahamas and are through to the semi-final round of the ANOC World Beach Soccer Games Qualifiers taking place in El Salvador. However, the women’s team lost to hosts El Salvador on opening night, Thursday.

The Estádio Nacional Costa del Sol was the stage of an exciting first day of competition.

Costa Rica, T&T and the USA men all emerged victorious and booked a place in the semi-finals.

Costa Rica defeated Guatemala 5-4 while the USA humbled Belize 8-2. Meanwhile, T&T’s “Sand Warriors” won a nailbiter 3-2 over Bahamas to advance to the semis.

Costa Rica were up against El Salvador in last night’s semi-final round while T&T were taking on a USA team they have never beaten.

The two semi-final winners qualify for the next ANOC World Beach Games 2023 to be held in Bali, Indonesia, from August 5-12.

On Thursday, the T&T men came from behind to beat the Bahamas, who scored first through Wood Julmis in the eighth minute. But T&T restored parity before half-time thanks to Anderson Peters before Hakeem King put T&T ahead with a superbly executed chip in the seventh minute of the second period, as the game remained open for the final stretch.

Goalkeeper Jabari Grays then scored T&T’s third goal, his long punt bouncing on the sand and deceiving Bahamian goalie Michael Buttler to provide T&T a 3-1 cushion with eight minutes left.

Both teams came close to scoring on several occasions and the contest became more frenzied when Gavin Christie reduced the deficit to 3-2.

But T&T men, coached by former player Chad Appoo, held on to their advantage to book their spot in the semi-finals of the competition.

Meanwhile, the round-robin women’s tournament saw the T&T team suffer a 5-2 defeat to El Salvador.

Against the hosts, the T&T women fell behind when Fátima Pérez put El Salvador ahead after just three minutes, before Aliyah Prince and Tsai-anne Fernandez scored to make it 2-1 in T&T’s favour.

In the second period, Marisa Gonzales was brought down in the box and she converted the penalty to level the match at 2-2.

Then El Salvador took firm control. Irma Cordero made it 3-2 for the hosts before Yaquelin Durán consolidated their advantage for 4-2.

[Tallman]

Trinidad and Tobago lose Concacaf Beach Soccer opener 2-1 to Panama
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday)

Trinidad and Tobago had a losing start to their 2023 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship campaign on Monday as they were edged by Panama 2-1 in their Group C opener at Malcolm Park Beach Soccer Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas.

Starting for T&T were Jesse Bailey (captain), Hakeem King, Shane Hospedales, Kareem Perry and Zane Coker (goalkeeper).

In the first of three 12-minute sessions, both teams pressed for the go-ahead goal but neither could find the back of the net.

Perry, however, broke the deadlock early into the second period as he rifled home a right-footed shot into the lower left corner of the Panamanian goal, too powerful for custodian Jaime Londono to get a hand to.

Five minutes into the final third, a defensive blunder between T&T’s Jordan Riley and goalie Zane Coker saw Panama’s Alfonso Maquensi capitalise to level the score.

But with just over three minutes to go, Londono launched a long throw forward and Julio Watson shouldered the ball past Coker, who unsuccessfully appealed for hand ball. The review showed the ball did come off Watson’s shoulder.

T&T rallied to grab the equaliser in the dying minutes but could not find the back of the net once more.

They return to action against last year’s runner-up USA on Tuesday from 1.30pm (T&T time) and play their final group match against Dominican Republic
on Wednesday at noon.

T&T are four-time quarter-finalists in this event. El Salvador are defending champions.

The top two teams from each of the three groups advance to the knockout stage, along with the top two third-place finishers.

Both finalists qualify for the 12th edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in November in the United Arab Emirates.

[Tallman]

US trounce Trinidad and Tobago 6-2 in beach soccer
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday)

Trinidad and Tobago's hopes of advancing to the knock-out phase of the 2023 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championships were dented on Tuesday, after losing 6-2 to the US in Group C at Malcolm Park in Bahamas.

It was T&T's second defeat of the championship, after a narrow 2-1 defeat to Panama in their opening fixture on Monday.

T&T will have to win their final Group C match against Dominican Republic on Wednesday, at noon, to have any chance of advancing to the knock-out phase.

The top two teams in each of the three groups will progress automatically to the quarter-finals along with the two best third-placed teams.

Favourites USA were out the gate quickly on Tuesday and piled early pressure on T&T.

In the first minute, Gabriel Silveira struck a free kick from distance that forced T&T goal-keeper Jabari Gray into a save, and seconds later USA struck the crossbar as T&T were reeling.

T&T’s first chance on goal was a free kick by Kevon Williams that did not threaten the US goalie.

Gray continued to be kept busy and could not prevent the US from opening the scoring. A bicycle kick by US captain Nick Perera found Nicholas Perea who converted a header for a 1-0 lead.

Minutes later, a volley from T&T's Shane Hospedales failed to trouble US goal-keeper Christopher Toth.

Even Gray tried his luck from distance and was aided by an awkward bounce, but it was dealt with by Toth.

Perera then doubled his team’s lead with another overhead kick in the closing stages of the first period.

The second period started just as the first did with the US in attack mode. Less than a minute in, the ball fell to Ricardo Carvalho and he converted from close range to make it 3-0.

Silveira gave USA a 4-0 advantage mid-way through the second period with a bicycle kick, before Christopher Albiston made it 5-0 just before the second interval.

T&T had their best showing in the third and final period pulling back two goals. In the first minute, Akinola Gregory collected a pass and poked the ball home from close range.

T&T looked more lively and they were rewarded for their fighting spirit. TT's Shallum Bobb crossed the ball to Kareem Perry who headed the ball into the net.

With just over one minute remaining, USA rounded off the scoring in the dying seconds when Perea made it 6-2 with a volley.

[Flex]

Riley keeps Beach Soccer men in CONCACAF hunt.
By Nigel Simon (T&T Guardian).

Former Presentation College of San Fernando winger Jordan Riley who played professionally in Europe snatched a late winner for the T&T men’s beach soccer team to secure a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Dominican Republic in their must-win final round-robin Group C match to reach the quarterfinals of the 12-nation 2023 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship on Wednesday.

Facing off in the opening match on the third day of group play at Malcolm Park Beach Facility, Nassau, Bahamas, T&T found itself trailing at the end of the first 12-minute period when Yensy Severino scored in the sixth minute for the Dominican Republic when his long-range right footed effort took a wicked bounce on the surface which deceived the dive of T&T goalkeeper Jabari Gray, who dived low to his right, with the ball bouncing past his shoulder and into the net.

However, three minutes later Shane Hospedales got T&T level for a 1-1 score at the end of the first third when he was on the spot to tap home from close range after the ball ricocheted off the body of defender Yorinson Noesi.

Three minutes into the second period, Miguel Moreta restored the lead for the underdogs when his effort sneaked in over the goal line off the underside of the crossbar, which they held until the end of the period to keep alive their hopes of a shock win.

However, just when it seemed as though, the upset was on the cards, T&T managed to turn things around, first with veteran goalkeeper Zane Coker drawing his team level in the 32nd minute with a long-range left-footed blast that whisked past goalkeeper Miguel Rojas and nestled into the top right corner of the goal.

And with a minute left on the clock, Riley, formerly of lower divisions Czech Republic clubs, FK Dvr Králové and Labem and TJ Dvůr Králové intercepted an inbound pass from Rojas intended for Noesi, and curled a right-footed effort into the top of the vacant goal to secure a first win in three matches for T&T after going under to former champions Panama, 2-1 in their opener on Monday, and then two-time winners USA, 6-2 on Tuesday.

In the second match on the day in Group C, USA hammered Panama 5-1 for a third straight win to top the group with a maximum of nine points, three ahead of its opponent, and will meet the runner-up of Group A, Costa Rica who was humbled in its pool decider, 7-1 by El Salvador while Group C runner-up Panama meets the runner-up of Group B, the Bahamas.

By finishing third in Group C, the Chad Appoo-coached T&T had a nervous wait on the outcome of the third-place pool matches in Group A between Guadeloupe and Turks & Caicos, which the latter won 5-3 to deny the French-speaking who needed to win by nine clear goals a spot in the last eight.

With its goal difference of minus-three, T&T could have only been surpassed as the top third-placed team by Guatemala who came up against Belize in their last Group B match.

The Guatemalans entered their match against Belize with a goal difference of minus-four and a win by two clear goals would put them above T&T and a quarterfinal date with the winner of Group A (El Salvador), while T&T will meet the winner of Group B, Mexico, as its look to stay in the hunt for one of the two spots for the 2023 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

In the other matches on Tuesday, Costa Rica slammed Turks & Caicos 10-2, and El Salvador punished Guadeloupe 10-1 in Group A while in Group B, former champions Mexico spanked Guatemala 6-3, and the Bahamas downed Belize 6-2 with today being a rest day in the competition ahead of the quarterfinals on Friday.

Two years ago in Costa Rica, the T&T men’s team coached by Ramiro Amarelle, a former Barcelona and Spanish top player came up one win short of reaching a first-ever CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championships semifinal when they were crushed 9-2 by four-time FIFA World Cup qualifiers El Salvador in their quarterfinal encounter to finish in the fifth to eight spots alongside fellow quarterfinal losers Bahamas, Panama, and Costa Rica.

T&T secured its place in the quarterfinals against 2009 champion El Salvador when they edged the Turks and Caicos Islands 7-5 in their final Pool C for a first win in three matches to advance as one of the two best third-placed pool finishers along with the Bahamas.

In their opening two pool matches, T&T went under two-time confederation runners-up Costa Rica 5-3 in their opener before suffering a 5-2 defeat to two-time champion the USA.

This is the sixth time T&T is competing at the CONCACAF Beach Soccer marquee event with a best-ever showing of fifth in 2015 while the team was seventh on debut in 2013 in the Bahamas and also reached the quarterfinals in 2017 and 2019.

[Flex]

Mexico oust valiant Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 in Concacaf beach soccer 'quarters'.
By Sherdon Pierre (T&T Newsday).

Trinidad and Tobago men`s beach soccer team were defeated 2-0 win  to four-time champions Mexico in the quarter-final of the Concacaf Beach Soccer Championships held at Malcolm Park, Bahamas on Friday night.

Both teams began the first period patiently in their build-up play as they tested out each other. The first 12-minute period ended goalless.

In the last minute of the second period T&T`s Kareem Perry was inches away to getting on the scoresheet pouncing on a mistake, but Mexican goalkeeper recovered from his earlier misjudgement to make the save. A few seconds later T&T`s goalie Jabari Gray made a double save to keep it goalless.

T&T's Akinola Gregory thought he had headed T&T in front from Gray's long throw but his effort came after the buzzer had sounded.

Mexican Cristofher Castillo broke the deadlock in the final period with a ferocious left-footed rocket that was too hot for Gray to handle. Three minutes later, Mexico were given a penalty after a four-second violation by Gray, who failed to pass the ball within the designated time. Hector Acevdeo's low shot went to the left of a diving Gray and nestled into the net for the two-nil victory.

Teams

T&T Team: Zane Coker, Jordan Riley, Jesse Bauley (Captain), Hakeem King, Kareem Perry.

Substitutes: Jabari Gray, Akinola Gregory, Anderson Peters, Shallun Bobb, Omri Baird, Kevon Williams.

Mexico team: Gabriel Macias, Edgar Portilla, Hector Acevedo, Diego Martinez, Jose Vizcarra.

Substitutes: Antonio Echeverria, Juan Morales, Alejandro Garcia, Enoch Lopez, Cristofher Castillo.

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USA, El Salvador, Bahamas, Mexico punch semifinal tickets
CONCACAF.COM.

MIAMI, Florida – The knockout stage of the 2023 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship at the Malcolm Beach Soccer Facility in Nassau, Bahamas got going on Friday night with United States, El Salvador, Bahamas and Mexico all advancing to the semifinals.

The U.S. captured a dramatic 5-4 win over Costa Rica with a goal in the last minute. Things were knotted at 2-2 after the first period on goals from Conner Rezende and Tomas Canale of the U.S. and Costa Rica’s Roger Mora and Lonis Calero.

A scoreless second period gave way to an action-packed third period in which Greivin Pacheco and Jeaustin Medina scored for the Ticos, while the U.S. got a pair of goals from Gabriel Silveira. Just when it looked like extra time would be needed, an own goal from Medina in the final minute gave the U.S. the 5-4 win.

Defending champions El Salvador are also through to the final four after topping Guatemala 7-2. Heber Ramos and Exon Perdomo paced El Salvador to a 2-0 lead after one period. That two-goal advantage stayed intact after goals from Jason Urbina and Andres Cruz for the Cuscatlecos, while Guatemala got scores from Jose Lem and Pablo Crocker.

El Salvador then put the win on ice with a trio of third period goals, as Perdomo, Melvin Gonzalez and Ramos all found the back of the net to seal the victory.

Host nation Bahamas brought the home fans to their feet in a 4-2 win over former champions Panama.

Kyle Williams and Gary Joseph scored to make it 2-0 Bahamas through the first period. Panama then got goals from Nagdiel Del Rosario and Luis Quintero, while Williams added another for Bahamas to make it 3-2 Bahamas after two periods. Michael Butler tacked on an insurance goal in the third period to secure the Bahamas win.

The fourth and final semifinalist is Mexico following their 2-0 win versus Trinidad and Tobago. No goals were to be found through the first two periods, setting up a dramatic third period in which El Tricolor got scores from Cristofher Castillo and Hector Acevedo for the 2-0 win.