Trinidad and Tobago men’s beach soccer have shown significant growth and improvement in their series of matches against the #8 world ranked Paraguay as the Soca Warriors are preparing for the upcoming 2021 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship in Costa Rica.
In every match played thus far at the Estadio Mundialista Los Pynandi, Paraguay T&T have narrowed the gap between them and the South American giants. Following their heaviest defeat of 7-2 on May 4th, they recorded a 5-2 defeat (May 6th), then two days later falling (7-4) and their best performance thus far came on Monday with a thrilling 3-2 defeat.
T&T goal scorers were Omni Baird (3 goals), Kevon Woodley (2 goals), Dominic McDougall, (2 goals), Shane Hospedales (1 goal) and Shallun Bobb (1 goal).
Ramiro Amarelle told the TTFA media his thoughts on the performance of his team. “I think our performances are improving and growing. We have one week ahead…and well try to continue on this way. I’m excited for the next couple of days.”
Captain of the T&T team Ryan Augustine said, “The opportunity to train and play with Paraguay has been and will be pivotal for us. This is the first time we are getting preparations and it is standard (quality)… the only other time we had something close was 2017. Being able to prepare with a team that is ranked 8th in the world and who are also preparing are challenging us because they want to improve themselves. We don’t really get these opportunities very often… it gives us the best chance of succeeding this time around.”
The 2021 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship will be the ninth edition of the tournament will take place at the Sports Complex Fedefutbol-Plycem in Costa Rica between 17–23 May 2021. The top two teams will qualify for the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Russia.
T&T opening game is against host team Costa Rica on May 17th then United States on May 18th and Turks and Caicos Islands a day later.
Trinidad & Tobago Squad: Jabari Gray; Shallun Bobb, Omri Baird, Shane Hospedales Dominic Mc Dougall, Ryan Augustine, Jesse Bailey, Zane Coker, Levi Fernández, Immanuel Russell, Joash Baird and Tevin Gill.
Head Coach: Ramiro Amarelle. Assistant: Jaime Paz.
Groups in CONCACAF Championship:
Group A (Mexico, Panama, Guadeloupe, Belize)
Group B (El Salvador, Guatemala, Bahamas, Dominican Republic)
Group C (Costa Rica, USA, Turks and Caicos, Trinidad & Tobago)
