The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER a keenly contested 2017 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship on Sunday, the focus now switches to the ninth edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

The historic event is all set to be hosted in the Malcolm Park beach soccer stadium at the foot of the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge April 27 to May 7 and will feature 15 teams from around the world.

While the Bahamas earned the rights to compete by virtue of being the hosts, Mexico and Panama booked their ticket to join the CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean region) by virtue of their first and second place finishes.

The other teams expected here are Nigeria and Senegal, the CAF (Africa) representatives; Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay out of the CONMEBOL (South America); Tahiti, appointed by OFC (Oceania) and Italy, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland from the UEFA (Europe).

It’s not known who will carry the banner for AFC (Asia). They are expected to conclude their qualification by March 11.

The official draw ceremony will be held 8pm tonight in the Atlantis Theatre on Paradise Island.

In the final on Sunday night, bringing the curtain down on what turned out to be an exciting week of action between 16 participating teams, Panama dethroned defending champions Mexico with a 4-2 victory.

It was the same identical score as the game prior when the United States of America clinched fifth place over the Bahamas.

Panama and Mexico gained the rights for a return trip to the Bahamas by winning their respective semi-final matches on Saturday night.

While Panama prevailed with a 3-2 win on a penalty shot over El Salvador, Mexico shut out Guadeloupe 3-0.

The Bahamas, meanwhile, reeled off three straight victories to clinch the top spot in Group A.

As a result of the team’s performance, the Bahamas has climbed to No. 44 in the world with 314 points, which placed them sixth in CONCACAF.

Mexico holds onto the top spot in CONCACAF with 1,266, followed by El Salvador with 1,093, the USA with 744, Panama with 593 and Costa Rica with 473.

Portugal heads the world list with 3,477, followed by Russia with 3,204 and Brazil with 3,136. Mexico is 10th, El Salvador 13th and the USA 21st.

At the end of the CONCACAF Tournament, Alfonso Maquensi of Panama was awarded the Golden Ball as the most valuable player.

Diego Villasenor of Mexico took home the golden glove as the top goalkeeper.

Marlon Meza from Belize and Jose Ramon Maldonado Alonso from Mexico earned a two-way tie as the top scorers, beating out Bahamian Lesly St Fleur, who trailed with 11.

The CONCACAF fair play award went to Canada and 16-year-old Jamal Haynes of Guyana was the youngest player to participate.

• The final standings

at the end of the

tournament were

as follows:

1st: Panama; 2nd: Mexico; 3rd: El Salvador; 4th: Guadeloupe; 5th: USA; 6th: Bahamas; 7th: Trinidad & Tobago; 8th: Jamaica; 9th: Costa Rica; 10th: Canada; 11th: Antigua & Barbuda; 12th: Guyana; 13th: Belize; 14th: Turks & Caicos Islands; 15th: Barbados and 16th: US Virgin Islands.