El Salvador trounce Trinidad and Tobago 9-2 in beach soccer 'quarters'

TT’s 2021 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship campaign came to an end as they fell to a 9-2 defeat against El Salvador in the quarterfinals at the Sports Complex Fedefutbol-Plycem in Alajuela, Costa Rica, on Friday.

El Salvador took less than 30 seconds to grab the opening goal. El Salvador goalkeeper Elidoro Portillo struck a free kick low and a fortunate bounce beat TT goalkeeper Jabari Gray.

Exon Perdomo doubled El Salvador’s advantage in the fourth minute when he tapped in a shot after a volley from distance struck the crossbar.

El Salvador created more chances, but TT were not being completely outplayed as they created chances of their own.

After missing a chance earlier in the period, Kevon “Showtime” Woodley scored a free-kick in the sixth minute, eight yards from goal, to cut El Salvador’s lead in half.

Gray made a spectacular save with less than three minutes left in the opening period to ensure El Salvador only had a 2-1 lead going into the second period.

TT started the second period slowly just as they did the first as 21 seconds had gone before a free-kick by Ruben Batres made it 3-1.

TT earned two free-kicks in the first five minutes of the second period, but could not find the back of the net.

TT made a greater effort in the quarter-final match to keep the ball in the air. In beach soccer the top teams avoid passing the ball on the ground because the rough sand makes it difficult.

Gray kept TT in the contest when he saved a penalty to ensure the score remained 3-1.

After Hakeem King’s bicycle kick went wide Jesse Bailey scored an own goal when he attempted to clear the ball at midfield. El Salvador were in a comfortable position with a 4-1 lead after the second period.

The match went downhill for TT in the third period as it quickly became 6-1 with goals from Batres and Francisco Velasquez.

Omri Baird pulled a goal back for TT in the fourth minute of the final period, but another goal from Batres and two more from Velasquez wrapped up a convincing win for El Salvador. Both Velasquez and Batres scored hat-tricks.

The top two teams in the tournament will qualify for the 2021 Beach Soccer World Cup.