Panama defeat TT for top spot

DEFENDING champions Panama defeated TT 4-3 last evening to claim top spot in Group B of the Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship, at the Puerto Vallarta Stadium, Mexico.

With the result, TT finished second in the group with six points and will face hosts Mexico today, from 7 pm (TT time), in the quarter-final stage, while Panama, who had a perfect nine points from three games, will tackle Guatemala at 5.45 pm.

The other quarter-final matches today will feature El Salvador against Bahamas (3.15 pm) and the United States against Guadeloupe (4.30 pm).

In yesterday's encounter, Jesse Bailey put TT ahead after two minutes but Alfonso Maquensi replied a minute later. Kevon "Showtime" Woodley restored TT's lead in the eighth minute before Rafael Garcia knotted the scores in the 13th.

Woodley got his second item in the 14th but, for the third time, Panama equalised courtesy of a strike from Maquensi in the 18th.

Eliecer Garcia got his name on the scoresheet in the 25th minute to complete the come-from-behind win for the Central Americans.

The semi-finals will be staged tomorrow and the final, and third-place match, are set for Sunday.

The finalists will be the Concacaf representatives at the 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Paraguay.