The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE “Rake ‘N’ Scrape Boys” gave an eager home crowd one final look at the national team playing at an elite level in Saturday’s historic exhibition match at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

Team Bahamas fell 6-3 to the World Cup All-Star select team, but for the players, the game served as a symbolic gesture of thanks to the Bahamian public.

Defender Dwayne Forbes said that while the team fell short of its ultimate goal, the final exhibition was a fitting way to conclude their participation in the event.

“It didn’t end the way we expected, but based on being the smallest nation in the tournament - to get our first World Cup win is a great result. For me, personally, and for my teammates, we know we can do better for the country and at least reach the quarterfinal as our main objective,” he said, “It felt good coming out to play and its all about the fans. This game was mostly about the fans. We didn’t perform how we wanted to for the fans, so we actually thought we owed this to them, one last chance to enjoy the game. For growing the sport, the more games we play, the more the people gert to see, the more they will support this sport in the future.”

Team Bahamas fell behind early, trailed 2-0 at the end of the first third. The select team moved ahead 3-0 early in the second period before St. Fleur got the Bahamas on the scoreboard.

The All-Stars tacked on two more goals at the end of the period, capped by a Noel Ott score with 7.5 seconds left to play. They took a 5-1 lead into the third.

St. Fleur opened the scoring in the final period with his second goal. He also dished an assist to Dwayne Forbes moments later, who delivered the third goal for the team to further trim the deficit. Sergio Villaverde’s header would produce the game’s final margin.

Jean Francois, who scored two goals in the Bahamas’ 4-1 win over Ecuador, said the national team programme should look to the growth of Tahiti as a model for the Bahamas to follow.

“A lot of the guys have potential to do better,” he said, “It’s going take a lot of hard work and we have to get all the guys out to practice, the guys have work, a family to take care of but we have to find some way to do it. We could do more if we had the opportunity to just focus on beach soccer only. I think we would have a program like Tahiti who started from the bottom, they went from being hosts and now you see them reach a final. We can do it too.”

This year marks the first time the World Cup is hosted in the Caribbean and the Bahamas is also the first Caribbean team to win a game in the history of the competition. The Bahamas is also the first country to play in an exhibition game at the biennial tournament.

Team captain, Gavin Christie, said he is optimistic about the development of the national team programme.

“I think the Bahamas has proven they can play at the highest level, but we have to work with with the federation and we have a lot of work to do. A lot of guys this was their first time at the national team level and for them to perform at a tournament of this magnitude, it’s amazing. We have a young team so the basic core guys can grow together as the sport continues to develop,” he said, “In order to get there you have to train every day, there are no breaks, every day you have to touch the sand and that’s what the Bahamas needs. It’s tough because most of us work 9-5 jobs so it’s difficult with those regimens and playing against guys that train every day. Over time that’s something the Bahamas will have to change if they want to compete at this level.”

Bahamas Football Association President, Anton Sealey, said it is his organization’s goal to continue the sport’s development as beach soccer has been thrust into the spotlight for both spectators and prospective athletes.

“I was extremely impressed with the team, given the fact that they’ve only been working with Soares for just under three months. I thought the improvement in the level of play, understanding of the game and movement outstanding. It just bodes well for the future,” he said, “We now have to sit back and analyze the program and see where we take it from here because we can’t just play this World Cup and then abandon it. We now have to sit down and take a critical look at the program and plot the way forward, but I can assure you that you have not seen the last of team Bahamas. We now have the venue so we will be hosting more competitions as well as having this team traveling to competitions. I can assure you team Bahamas will qualify in its own right for the Beach Soccer World Cup.”

Sealey said it is his hope that corporate Bahamas and the general public will build upon this foundation.

“It’s always a challenge because of the structure of the programme, but given the performance they put forth in this competition, I think the conversation with employers is going to be a little easier when we ask them for time off for the guys to train and travel,” he said, “We have attracted some more followers of the game, not only fans but interested players. I think the future is bright for the Bahamian national team.”