The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas’ men’s national beach soccer team is set to return to international competition next week.

The Bahamas Football Association officially released the names of the team participating in the 2021 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championships, hosted May 17-23, in Alajuela, Costa Rica.

The 12-member team includes Michael Butler, Gavin Christie, Torin Ferguson, Jean Francois, Evelt Julmis, Evens Julmis, Wood Julmis, Gary Joseph, Timmy Munnings, Lesly St Fleur, Jaime Thompson and Kyle Williams.

Team Bahamas is one of 11 teams participating in this edition of the event. The team will compete in Group B alongside El Salvador, Guatemala and The Dominican Republic.

Luiz Escobar is the head coach and Larry Minns is the team manager. Daniel Miller is the medical officer, Darron Beneby is the assistant manager and Eugena Patton is the physiotherapist.

The tournament was originally set to feature 12 teams in four groups of four teams, but Guadeloupe withdrew, leaving Group A with just three teams - Mexico, Panama and Belize. Group C includes The United States, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, and The Turks and Caicos Islands.

The first three days will feature round robin play at the group stage. The Bahamas will face Guatemala on May 17 at 11:30am. They face The Dominican Republic the following day at 11:30am and El Salvador on May 19 at 1pm.

The top two finishers in each group and the two best third-place finishers will advance to the knockout stage. After a break in action, the knockout stage begins with the quarterfinal on May 21, followed by the semifinals on May 22 and the final on May 23.

The two semifinal winners will earn a spot in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Russia 2021, August 19–29, 2021, in Moscow, Russia.

Team Bahamas finished 3-0 in a final tune-up against the National Beach Soccer League All Stars, April 23-25 in Hollywood, Florida.

In the first match, The Bahamas scored a 5-1 win. Match two saw normal time finish at 3-3, and The Bahamas took just a point from the penalty spot. In the finale, The Bahamas won 4-1.

The Bahamas has appeared in five previous editions of the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championships, in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

In 2019, they were eliminated in the quarterfinal of the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championships in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico The Bahamas finished their run in the tournament with a 2-2 win-loss record.

The programme had its best performance at the 2017 edition of the event when they finished in sixth place in their role as hosts. The Bahamas topped Group A with a 3-0 record but was eliminated by Guadeloupe in the knockout stage.

The Bahamas then went on to host the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and following their performance, achieved a ranking of No.38 in the world ranking and No.5 in CONCACAF with a total of 435 points.