The Bahamas Football Association has named a 12-member senior men’s national beach soccer team that will represent The Bahamas at the upcoming CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) Beach Soccer Championships (CBSC), set to take place at Complejo Deportivo Fedefutbol Plycem in Alajuela, Costa Rica from May 17-23.
The Bahamas will be one of 12 CONCACAF member federations that will be vying for two spots to represent the region at the 2021 FIFA (International Football Federation) Beach Soccer World Cup to be held in Moscow, Russia. That tournament is set to take place August 19-29 of this year.
Representing The Bahamas are Michael Butler (goalkeeper), Torin Ferguson (goalkeeper), Timothy Munnings (forward), Gary Joseph (midfielder), Jean Francois (midfielder), Kyle Williams (pivot), Evelt Julmis (defender), James Thompson (forward), Wood Julmis (forward), Lesly St. Fleur (defender), Gavin Christie (forward) and Evens Julmis (defender).
The Julmis trio are the only players making a debut in this tournament.
Head coach will be Luiz Escobar. Larry Minns is the team’s manager and he will be assisted by Daron Beneby. The medical officer is Daniel Miller and the physiotherapist is Eugena Patton.
The tournament will have a group stage and a knockout stage. Following the round-robin play, the top two finishers in each group and the two best third place teams will advance to the knockout state. The two teams that will play in the final will represent CONCACAF at the Beach Soccer World Cup.
The 12 teams are split evenly into three groups – Group A, Group B and Group C. The Bahamas was drawn into group B. They are in the group with El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.
The CONCACAF Beach Soccer Rankings as of December 19 were used to distribute the teams into four pots, with the draw dividing the teams into three groups of four teams. El Salvador is ranked at number two while The Bahamas is ranked at number six. Guatemala is ranked at number nine and the Dominican Republic is ranked at number 28.
The Bahamas will open group play on Monday with a game against Guatemala. Tuesday will see Team Bahamas play the Dominican Republic. Their final group match will see them play El Salvador on Tuesday. If they advance to the quarterfinals, the team will have the day off on Wednesday and play the quarterfinals on Thursday. The third place and final games rounds are set for Sunday, May 23.
The last edition of the CBSC was held in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in 2019. The Bahamas was in Group C with the United States of America, Bonaire, Antigua and Bermuda. The Bahamas along with group winner the United States, advanced to the quarterfinals.
Team Bahamas fell 8-4 to El Salvador in their quarterfinal matchup. Mexico and the United States qualified for the Beach Soccer World Cup that year.
The Bahamas hosted the 2017 edition, that saw 16 teams vying for two spots in the 2017 edition of the Beach Soccer World Cup, that was also held in The Bahamas. Panama won its first title and Mexico was the runner-up. They both qualified for the Beach Soccer World Cup that year.
The Bahamas was in Group A with Jamaica, Guyana and Belize. It won the group with a 3-1 win/loss record to advance to the quarterfinals. The Bahamas eventually lost to Guadeloupe, 5-3.
As hosts The Bahamas played in the 2017 Beach Soccer World Cup. The team will look to make a return at this year’s edition.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/bfa-names-squad-for-cbsc/
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