2009: El Salvador rules the sand to earn first title since 1943

December 17, 2009

Nothing was going to stop El Salvador from its first international title since 1943 _ not even swine flu.

The fabled “Fishermen of La Pirraya” beat Canada and the United States, then prevailed over Costa Rica 6-3 in the final to win the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship .

It was the first time in the five-year history of CONCACAF conducting a qualifying event for the Beach Soccer World Cup that neither Mexico nor the United States earned a berth to represent the region.

But El Salvador’s title didn’t come without delay.

Originally scheduled for April 29-May 3 in Puerto Vallarta, the CONCACAF beach championship was postponed a day before the start when an outbreak of influenza in Mexico forced government officials to close schools nationwide. CONCACAF officials, likewise, postponed the finals of the inaugural Champions League and cancelled the semifinals and finals of the Under-17 Championship ongoing in .

When it was rescheduled for mid-June in the Pacific resort, Mexico and the United States still remained the prohibitive favorites.

Mexico won both its group matches – including a 4-1 win over El Salvador — by a combined 14-1 and, similarly, the United States breezed past Costa Rica and debutante Bahamas by a 12-3 aggregate.

But in the semifinals, despite a partisan home crowd of 3,000, Richard Sterling scored with 5:40 remaining to equalize 2-2 for Costa Rica, and Ticos went on to outlast the Mexicans on penalties 2-1 to earn their first trip to the World Cup.

In the other semi, Jose Agustin scored for a third straight game, tallying twice in the opening four minutes and again with 2:23 remaining to lead El Salvador over the United States 5-3.

A day later, Agustin scored his tournament-leading eighth goal to help Los Cuscatlecos over Costa Rica and its first title since it won the Central American and Caribbean Confederation (CCCF) title during World War II.

“We’ve improved a lot compared to last year,” El Salvador goalkeeper and captain Luis Rodas said. “The experience we’ve had going to Marseille and compete with the best teams in the world helped us a great deal.”

But the glory was short-lived. Come November at the World Cup in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, El Salvador and Costa Rica both were eliminated in three straight games.

Costa Rica was outscored 14-2, while El Salvador allowed a goal with 48 seconds remaining to lose to Ivory Coast 7-6 in its opener and never recovered.

“A World Cup is always a good experience for the team,” El Salvador coach Rudis Gonzalez said. “We have a very young side and we’ve only been working with them for three or four years. We still have a lot to learn and, though the boys have done a good job, we can’t compete against professional players and history.
“We have to keep developing the game so that we can change our role in the future and we need to try and be consistent over the three periods. We always seem to lose our balance. We have to get more experience and games under our belt.”

Concacaf

Tags: Agustin, Bahamas, canada and the united states, captain Luis Rodas, Central American, CONCACAF Beach, Costa Rica, debutante, eighth goal, El Salvador, first trip, Goalkeeper, jose agustin, Marseille, mexicans, Mexico, mexico and the united states, puerto vallarta, resort mexico, richard sterling, rodas, soccer championship, soccer world cup, straight game, ticos, united arab emirates, United States, world war ii

Costa Rica drops third straight at Beach Soccer World Cup

November 19, 2009

Richard Sterling scored Costa Rica’s second goal of the tournament but Italy overwhelmed the Ticos 3-1 on Wednesday and sent them home from the Beach Soccer World Cup with a third straight loss.

Costa Rica was joined by CONCACAF champion Honduras, which was beaten 7-2 by Japan and also returned home with a third loss.

Sterling equalized at 8:41 of the first period after Simone Feudi put Ialy ahead a little more than a minute earlier. Pasquale Corotenuto restored Italy’s lead by converting a penalty with 2:08 remaining in the first and Paolo Palmacci added an insurance goal with a minute and a half to play.

The result finished Italy in second place in Group C and sent it to the quarterfinals while Costa Rica completed its stay in Dubai having been outscored 14-2.

El Salvador, which jumped ahead in its first two games before allowing its opponents to rally, fell behind early and was overwhelmed the Asian champion.

Japan scored four times in the first eight minutes and cruised past los Catrachos, who already had been eliminated from quarterfinal contention before the match. Second-period goals by Masakiyo Maezono, his second of the game, and another by Hiofumi Oda extended the lead to 6-0 before El Salvador’s Tomas Hernandez scored his third goal of the tournament with 2:25 remaining in the period.

After Japan restored the six-goal advantage, Walter Torres scored his second of the tournament with five seconds remaining to complete the scoring.

Dubai United Arab Emirates

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Tags: asian champion, beach soccer, catrachos, contention, dubai united arab emirates, first period, goal advantage, insurance goal, oda, opponents, pasquale, period goals, quarterfinals, richard sterling, second period, soccer world cup, tomas hernandez, two games, united arab emirates

Costa Rica, El Salvador claim berths in Beach Soccer World Cup

June 21, 2009

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – Costa Rica and El Salvador both advanced to their first Beach Soccer World Cup, eliminating favorites Mexico and the United States in the semifinals of the CONCACAF championship on Saturday.

Costa Rica outlasted El Tri 2-1 on penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw while El Salvador subdued the United States 5-3 to assure CONCACAF of a champion from neither Mexico nor the USA for the first time.

It will be El Salvador’s second straight trip and Costa Rica’s first to the Beach Soccer World Cup, this year set for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates November 16-22.

In an earlier game, Canada handed the Bahamas its third straight loss, 4-3, to claim fifth place.

Jose Agustin scored for a third straight game, tallying twice in the opening four minutes to give El Salvador a 2-0 lead. The United States twice pulled within a goal, the last time when Raphael Xexeo scored to cut the deficit to 5-4, but Agustin scored his third of the game with 2:23 remaining to seal the victory for El Salvador.

Isaac Rodriguez and Christopher Flores rallied Mexico from an early deficit to give El Tri a 2-1 lead. But Richard Sterling equalized for Costa Rica with 5:40 to go in the third period and send the game to extra time. A goalless extra period sent the match to penalties, where Gustavo Rosales hit the post on his attempt, giving Enzo Mora the chance to claim a World Cup berth for Costa Rica.

“I can hardly believe we’re actually going to the World Cup, but we deserve it more than anybody,” Costa Rica coach Christian Ovares said. “We beat Mexico in their home in front of thousands of fans. I think we‘ve made a point. We belong among the best 16 teams in the world.”

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