Ex-Spain, Barca player appointed TT beach soccer coach

FORMER Spain national and Barcelona beach soccer player Ramiro Amarelle has been appointed coach of the TT men’s beach soccer team.

Amarelle arrived in TT last week and will take up duties with the national squad later this month to lead preparations ahead of the Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship in Alajuela, Costa Rica in May.

Maria Gordo, an assistant as well as a mental coach, has already arrived and is in quarantine at the Home of Football in Couva. Amarelle and Gordo will soon be joined by assistant coach and analyst Jaime Paz.

According to a statement issued by TTFA, on Wednesday, all three coaches will serve for the preparation phase and duration of the Concacaf qualifiers which runs May 17-23. The tournament will be played at the Complejo Deportivo FEDEFUTBOL Plycem, in Costa Rica.

“It’s an honour for me and my assistants to get this opportunity to prepare the national beach soccer team of TT for the Concacaf championship.

“It is an exciting challenge and will require a total team effort. We are looking forward to working with all the players, the other members of the staff and everyone at the federation to make this the best possible preparation of the team.

“Of course the main ambition is to qualify but this will also be a process to improve beach soccer and create a better environment and awareness for beach soccer in the country. We will aim to improve many different aspects of the game here,” said Amarelle.

The new national coach is a FIFA instructor and advisor and also holds a UEFA Pro License coaching badge.

The rest of the TT team’s technical staff comprises Ryan Augustine (player/assistant coach), Dr Jason Pilgrim (athletic trainer), Dr Oba Gulston (manager) and Yuri Chapman (assistant manager).

The 12 Concacaf member associations participating in the qualifiers are Bahamas, Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, USA and TT.

For the group stage, the teams will be divided into three groups of four teams each. After round-robin play during May 17-19, the first and second-place finishers in each group and the two best third-place finishers will advance to the knockout stage.

The knockout stage begins with quarter-final matches on May 21, followed by the semi-finals on May 22.

In addition to qualifying for the competition’s final, the two semi-final winners will earn a spot in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Russia 2021. The final is scheduled for May 23.

TT reached the quarter-finals of the Concacaf championships in 2015, 2017 and 2019. Mexico are the defending Concacaf champions.