The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The men’s national team lost both of their matches against the world’s number sixth ranked Switzerland in the Kalik Light Cup International Friendly over the weekend at the Bahamas Football Association’s beach soccer facilities on East Bay Street.

The Bahamas got trounced 13-3 in the opener on Friday as Noel Ott went on a scoring spree with 10 goals. Angelo Schirinzi got a pair and Nicola Werder added the other.

The Bahamas goals came from Kyle Williams, Ehren Hanna and Lesley St Fleur. Then on Saturday, Switzerland held on for a 9-6 win as Werder struck twice, Michael Mijev three times and Ott added four more.

The Bahamas got two goals from Hanna and one each from Cameron Hepple, Renardo McCallum and Dwayne Forbes. Severin Berli accidentally booted in the other goal on the defensive end for the Bahamas just before the final whistle sounded.

Despite their two losses, there’s a lot of hope for improvement for the team as it looks towards the hosting of the 2017 Beach Soccer World Cup.

Heimanu Tararui, the international star from Tahiti who has been working vigorously with the team in preparation for the matches, said there’s a lot for the team to take away from the experience as they look forward to travelling this summer to get some more exposure at a higher level.

“It’s a big pleasure for me because I was like them when I started playing beach soccer,” said Tararui, who led Tahiti to three World championship titles and are coming off a second place finish in 2015 when he was awarded the Golden Ball award as the tournament’s top player. “I was happy to take this team and try to teach them what I learn and I hope all the best for this team.

“I think they had a lot of surprises over the weekend because they never played a big team like this. In their training, they worked hard. They never made as many mistakes as they did and so I think they were surprised.

“But we need more international games like this and I think when they go to Europe, they will get better prepared playing in friendly games because beach soccer is very different from playing in the regular soccer games.”

Torin Ferguson, one the three goal keepers, said they are headed into the right direction.

“We have a whole year to do it, so we will be better next year,” he said. “I know I just have to work on my feet movement and ball pressing and I can help this team out.”

Hepple said they knew they had a lot of work to do, facing Switzerland,, so they tried to stick to the game plan that Tararui had instructed them to do.

“We tried to defend first and then get goals,” he said. “But I still think we have a lot to improve on as we look forward to the World Cup. It’s night and day from the first game to the second one. We worked on the things that we didn’t get to work on in the first game and we’re slowly improving. Once we get in more games this summer, we will get better.”

Gavin Christie concurred, noting that they made the necessary adjustment and turned things around and performed much better in game two.

“They gave us a taste of what the level of competition is and it’s a high level,” said the newly wed Christie. These guys are playing games on a weekly basis at a high level, so we still have a lot of work to do, but this was a good gauge for us to see where the team is and what it is we need to do to get better. In the two games, I think we learn very quickly, but we still have a long way to go.”

Hanna, who led Team Bahamas in scoring despite coming off an injury, said it took them a little while to make the adjustment to their movement on the pitch, but that’s the good thing about playing in a friendly like this.

“We’re in a great environment under coach Manu, so we’re just looking to improve from here,” he said. “It’s taken us some time how to move tactfully because it’s a different game, a smaller side of the sport. But we play to work on these things.”

Ott, who was unstoppable in his pursuit to lead Switzerland, said although they came here to play the games, they had a tremendous experience staying on Paradise Island.

“It was great to be here, so thank you to all of the Bahamian people. It was amazing to be here,” he said. “The Bahamian team that we saw on the first day, was much better today because they saw us and so it was a tough game, but we are happy to win the game.”

Ott said between now and next year, the team will have to put in a lot of work because they will be facing teams like Switzerland and others who are a little stronger.

Angelo Schirinzi, the player/coach for Switzerland, said they were happy to enjoy the exchange with the Bahamas.

“This was absolutely an amazing tournament. The organization was perfect and the accommodation was perfect,” he said. “I see a Bahamas tam who made a big adjustment. In the first game, they were a bit timid, but they came back and made the adjustment and they are well on their way for the World Cup next year. They just need a lot of matches. They can train a lot more, but if they have the matches to play in, they will be much better because they have the talent.”

BFA president Anton Sealey said it was the kind of exposure that both the payers and the fans needed as World Cup Tournament approaches.

“It’s a world in progress for our team. Between Friday night and Saturday afternoon, it was a massive difference, but we have a long way to go,” he said. “We appreciate it that, but the guys are willing to put in the work, so we will do whatever is necessary to improve the product. I’m comfortable with where we are. W have a long way to go, but we will get there.”

Both the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and the Ministry of Tourism have pledged their support in assisting the team and at the end of Jun, the team will be heading to Europe to play in a series of games in Europe and on their return, there will be a few more friendly games with teams who will be coming in for some exhibition before the World Cup.

“There’s room in every aspect of the game,” Sealey said. “The major points for me is the physical strength of our team. I think you saw where guys who looked physically less imposing than our guys and they were just pushing our guys of the ball. So one of the main things for me is that I need our players to get physically strong, if it means getting into the weight room and getting their stamina level up to this game because it is a grueling game. It’s only three periods of 12 minutes, but it;s a heck of time to be on the sand.”

And as the association prepare for the World Cup, Sealey said the fans can look forward to an experience that they have never experience when they return to the facility after he goes through its transformation.and everything.

“We are going to expand this almost two fold and we are going to have a facility that will be conducive to hosting world class events,” he said. “The whole atmosphere and everything that will be built around here, the fans will get an experience that they will remember forever.”