The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Team Bahamas put together its most complete game of the tournament thus far en route to their first win of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2017.

The Bahamas scored a 4-1 win over Ecuador last night in the new national beach soccer stadium at Malcolm Park. Jean Francois scored a pair of goals while Lesly St Fleur and Kyle Williams each added goals to close out the tournament with an historic win for the programme.

Williams scored the final goal of the game at 33’14” to send the Bahamian faithful into frenzy and cap the first Beach Soccer World Cup win in the island nation’s history.

He said the team made a point to bounce back from Saturday’s lopsided 10-1 defeat at the hands of Senegal.

“The effort was absolutely amazing. Ecuador is a very good team, this is the World Cup so every team is really good and after the Senegal game we knew we had to have a great performance,” he said. “It was great for us, we came out, played hard, we had great support from our fans, they stuck with us the whole time and it made the difference in the end.”

It was a new starting lineup for the Bahamas with St Fleur, Daron Beneby, Dwayne Forbes and Gary Joseph the first five on the pitch.

“It was great, it allowed us to stay engaged, sometimes quicker subs means everyone is a bit more involved throughout the game and it made a difference,” Williams said. “The effort was great, everyone gets to touch the sand, everyone gets to contribute and that’s what we want in the end.”

Julio Jemison was a force in goal once again for Team Bahamas and finished with 12 saves. Both teams missed several scoring opportunities in the first but the Bahamas’ defensive effort was highlighted late when Ecuador had numbers, but Jemison came up with a deflection to keep a 0-0 tie.

After Ecuador’s Daniel Cedeno missed a shot that sailed above the crossbar, the Bahamas would score on the very next possession when Francois scored the first goal of the game and his first of the tournament at the 5:47 mark.

St Fleur would tack on another goal less than three minutes later after an incredible individual effort to outrace a pair of defenders and the Ecuadorian keeper to land a strike for a 2-0 lead.

Early in the third, Ecuador was able to keep pace on a goal from Segundo Moreira, but failed to score the equaliser. Francois scored the brace at 32’49” and Williams added another goal to secure the win. The Bahamas finished third in Group A with a 1-2 record.

With a World Cup win, team captain Gavin Christie said the Bahamas proved it belonged on the big stage with the world’s best teams and he expects a rise in the rankings to follow. “Hopefully, but the rankings are on paper, what matters is what happens on the sand,” he said. “I’m proud of the effort this team put out there all tournament, we proved we belong on this stage and the programme will only continue to get better from here.”

Four teams, the top two finishers from Group A and Group B, advanced to Thursday’s quarter-finals.

Iran defeated Nigeria 2-1 on penalties after a thrilling 4-4 draw after extra time to claim the runners-up spot in Group B and reach the quarter-finals. They will advance to face Switzerland who beat Senegal 3-2 on penalties after their 6-6 draw after extra time to top Group A.

Italy was undefeated at the group stage and eased past Mexico 8-1 to finish top of Group B. They will face Senegal in the quarter-finals.

The other half of the quarter-finals will be decided today as the winners and runners up from Group C and D emerge. Tahiti will face Poland at 3:30pm followed by Paraguay v Panama at 5:30pm, Brazil v Japan at 6:30pm and the United Arab Emarites v Portugal in the 8pm nightcap.