The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas will put their perfect 3-0 winning record on the line on Friday night against Guadeloupe as the knockout stage of the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship gets underway at the new Bahamas Beach Soccer facility at the foot of the Sir Sidney Poitier bridge.

The Bahamas, coached by Alexandre Soares and Stephen Bellot, were drawn to play in the feature quarter-final at 9.15pm following the completion of the group stage on Thursday night.

“It’s a quarter-final and Guadeloupe is a strong team, so you can’t take anything for granted,” said Bahamas team captain Gavin Christie. “We just have to come out and play our best and hopefully we can get the victory.”

Should the Bahamas win, they will play the winners of Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago in the semi-finals on Saturday. The championships will conclude on Sunday.

Christie said the team, only been assembled a year ago, is still a work in progress and they have to work on their finishing to put away their chances because in a tight tournament like this, they have to score.

“One mistake could be one goal, so we have to narrow down our chances,” he proclaimed. “But each game we’re getting better and better and we’re going into the quarter-final confident and ready to play.”

The Bahamas topped group A, scoring 10 goals and only conceding three. Lesly St Jean scored eight of the Bahamas’ goals, and is the leading scorer in the tournament.

The other group winners have piled up the goals. In Group B, Mexico scored 27 goals in their three wins and given up five. Guadeloupe, who the Bahamas play on Friday night, was in second scoring 11 and conceding 16 in winning two of their three matches. United States notched 20 goals and let in only four in Group C while in Group D, El Salvador hit 21 goals.

The Bahamas opened with a 4-1 victory over Guyana on Monday night as St Jean scored a hat trick . Kyle Williams added the other. On Tuesday they whitewashed Guyana 3-0 with another pair of goals from St Fleur, Gary Joseph booting in the other.

On Wednesday, the Bahamas closed out pool play with a 3-2 victory over Jamaica as St Jean again came through with a hat trick.

Friday's action began at 12.15pm with placement matches involving the eight teams which did not finish in the top two in their groups.

The quarter-finals got underway at 5.30pm with El Salvador cruising past Jamaica 5-0. Panama sprung a major shock by beating the United States 6-4 in the second tie. That will be followed by Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago at 8pm while the Bahamas closes the programme at 9.15pm against Guadeloupe.

FIXTURES AND RESULTS

Friday

Placement matches

13th place first round: Barbados 5 Turks & Caicos Islands 2

13th place first round: Belize 6 US Virgin Islands 4 (after extra time)

9th place first round: Canada 2 Costa Rica 2 (Costa Rica win 3-2 on penalties)

9th place first round: Guyana 6 Antigua & Barbuda 4

Quarter-finals

El Salvador 5 Jamaica 0

United States 4 Panama 6

Mexico 5 Trinidad & Tobago 1

Bahamas 3 Guadeloupe 5

Saturday (timings to be confirmed)

11.15am: 13th place second round: Turks & Caicos Islands v US Virgin Islands

12.30pm: 13th place second round: Barbados v Belize

1.45pm: 9th place second round: Canada v Antigua & Barbuda

3pm: 9th place second round: Costa Rica v Guyana

4.15pm: 5th place semi-finals: Jamaica v United States

5.30pm: 5th place semi-finals: Trinidad & Tobago v Bahamas

6.45pm: Semi-finals: El Salvador v Panama

8pm: Semi-finals: Mexico v Guadeloupe

Sunday (timings to be confirmed)

11.15am: 15th place match

12.30pm: 13th place match

1.45pm: 11th place match

3pm: 9th place match

4.15pm: 7th place match

5.30pm: 5th place match

6.45pm: 3rd place match

8pm: final

The two finalists will qualify for the World Cup in Nassau from April 27 to May 7. The Bahamas have qualified for the World Cup as hosts so if they or unranked Guadeloupe reach the final the third place winners will take the qualification spot.