The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

The home crowd at the Malcolm Park Beach Soccer Facility got a real treat last night as the Bahamas men’s national beach soccer team knocked off Trinidad & Tobago 5-4 to advance to the semifinals of the 2025 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship.

The “Junkanoo Beach Boyz” have been on a tear since dropping game one of Group B play against Panama. 

The host team finished as the top team in Group B with two wins, one loss and a leading total of six points.

They advanced alongside the USA, who defeated Panama 5-1 for the second spot in Group B.

Francis Farberoff, head coach of Team Bahamas, spoke about what has changed for the team since their loss against Panama. 

“We kind of worked a lot on improving the mistakes that we had in that game and it showed against the USA yesterday. We were able to close them down and now today again a tough game back and forth. To be a championship team you gotta be able to overcome being behind, turning the game so I think that is a part of being a good team and winning team,” he said.

It was truly a competitive affair between the “Junkanoo Beach Boyz” and the Soca Warriors.

Jordan Riley got the scoring frenzy started early for Trinidad & Tobago with a crafty goal at the 10th minute of the first period to pull ahead 1-0.

Wood Julmis was on target for an open goal that levelled the score at 1-1 for the host team with three minutes on the clock in the first period. The Soca Warriors and the host team both battled for possession of the ball at the minute mark of the first period but The Bahamas’ Lekenson Chery snuck the ball past the defenders for a 2-1 advantage.

The Bahamas’ deficit was short-lived as Trinidad’s Riley picked up his brace in the final minute to tie up the matchup 2-2 headed into the second period.

The scoring opportunities were in abundance in the second period with both sides trading goals the rest of the way.

Brandon Adderley found the back of the net on back-to-back plays at the 11th and 7th minute mark for the “Junkanoo Beach Boyz”. 

The Soca Warriors tied this game once again when Zane Coker connected on a goal at the 5th minute of the third period which levelled the score at 4-4.

Veteran player Kyle Williams would ice the game for the “Junkanoo Beach Boyz” at the 7th minute mark of the third period. He caught the Soca Warriors’ goalkeeper sleeping and connected on the game-winning strike.

The visitors had an open goal opportunity with less than a minute to go but misfired on their attempt to tie the contest and force extra time. 

Williams spoke about how it felt to seal the win for Team Bahamas.

“It was an amazing game. We made it a lot more difficult than we wanted to but they are a tough team. We have been playing against them for years, they know us and we know them. It went down to the wire…I was in the right place at the right time and I was able to score the ball at home,” he said.

The Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship semifinals are scheduled to begin on Saturday evening and the “Junkanoo Beach Boyz” ’are looking to make it into the top two  to qualify for the 2025 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

The Bahamas picked up a fourth-place finish at the 2023 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship hosted at home. 

They lost 3-2 against Mexico in the semifinals and came up short 3-2 against El Salvador in the third-place match.

The fourth-place finish was their best showing at the biennial tournament to date.

Coach Farberoff admitted that the team collectively has one goal headed into the semifinals.

“The mindset right now is that we are one game away from the World Cup. We have been climbing one ladder at a time and we know that now is the highest ladder that we have to climb but the guys can now see it. It is there at the end of the tunnel so now it takes everybody’s effort together to get there,” he said.

Next up on the schedule for The Bahamas will be Guatemala.

The latter wrapped up the Group A standings in the second spot with two wins, one loss and a total of 6 points.

The semifinals will begin with the USA matching up against El Salvador at 6pm followed by the host team versus Guatemala at 8pm.

Only the top two nations will secure a berth for the 2025 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.