The Tribune

THE Bahamas men’s national beach soccer team were eliminated in the quarterfinal of the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championships.

The team suffered an 8-4 loss to eventual third-place finisher El Salvador in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Saturday.

Lesly St Fleur finished with the brace, while James Thompson and Kyle Williams also scored goals.

El Salvador jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first third before St Fleur got the Bahamas on the scoreboard with his shot to make the score 3-1.

El Salvador would respond with a score to regain a three-goal lead but Thompson netted late to make the score 4-2 headed into the final third.

El Salvador tacked on another goal before St Fleur scored his second of the match to make the score 5-3.

After El Salvador scored three unanswered goals, Williams scored the final goal for Team Bahamas for the game’s final margin. The United States and Mexico advanced to the final and solidified their places as the CONCACAF representatives at the 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, November 19 to December 1 in Paraguay.

The Bahamas finished their run in the tournament with a 2-2 win-loss record. They got off to an impressive start with a 7-4 opening day win over Antigua and Barbuda. The team scored their second win of the group stage and added an additional three points with a 12-2 win over Bonaire. They suffered their first loss when they were edged 3-2 by the United States to conclude play in Group C.

Team Bahamas was made up by Gavin Christie, Gary Joseph, Lesly St Fleur, Michael Butler, Nesley Jean, Kyle Williams, Daron Beneby, Dwayne Forbes, Jean Francois, James Thompson, Timothy Munnings, Torin Ferguson and Nathan Wells.

Luis Escobar Passos Da Silva was the head coach, assisted by Wilson DaCosta and Larry Minns was the team’s manager.