BELIZE CITY, Mon. Feb. 27, 2017–Returning home today from the Bahamas was the National Beach Soccer Team of Belize, who had spent a week participating in the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship 2017.
Belize failed to make the playoff round, after defeating Jamaica in a penalty shootout (after drawing 5-5 in regulation), but losing to home team Bahamas, 3-0, and to Guyana, 4-1, to finish at the bottom of our four-team group.
In the ensuing tournament ranking series against other group losers, Belize rattled off three consecutive victories on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, against Virgin Islands, 6-4; Barbados, 6-2; and Turks & Caicos, 9-4; thus completing our participation with 4 wins out of 6 games played, for a final ranking of 13th out of the 16 teams in the tournament.
But perhaps most remarkable was the news in a concacaf.com release today, where they announced the Award Winners at the 2017 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship; and Belize’s Marlon “El Matador” Meza [on right in the picture above] was co-winner of the Golden Boot award with 12 goals, tied with Mexico’s Jose Ramon Maldonado Alonso.
To the best of our knowledge, the Belize team players are: Frank Lopez, Jermaine Jones, Ethnie Figueroa, Marlon Meza, Byron Ferrel, Dennis Serano, Rugerri Trejo, Sean Mas, Raymond Ramos, Jeromy James, Thomas Baptist and Frank Nunez.
Below are some highlights from CONCACAF:
NASSAU, Bahamas, Feb. 26, 2017 (Concacaf.com)–Panama won its first CONCACAF Beach Championship with a 4-2 win over defending-champion Mexico on Sunday at the Malcolm Park Beach Soccer Facility.
Both sides will represent the Confederation — along with the host Bahamas — at the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, which launches on April 27…
Match for Fifth Place: The United States completed its CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship schedule on a bright note, defeating the host Bahamas, 4-2….
Match for Third Place: El Salvador salvaged a third-place finish from its 2017 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship campaign with a 7-2 win over Guadeloupe…
OTHER MATCHES: Captain Greivin Pacheco’s hat-trick helped Costa Rica edge Canada 6-5 after extra time and secure ninth place at the 2017 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship on Sunday, the competition’s final day of play…
Elvis Thomas and Omarie Daniel scored three goals each as Antigua & Barbuda finished eleventh, thanks to an 8-6 win over Guyana, which got braces from Jamal Haynes and Deshawn Joseph.
Belize hit the goal trail in their 13th-place playoff success against Turks & Caicos Islands, earning a 9-4 win. In an impressive performance, Marlon Meza scored four goals, while Jeremy James and Alexander Jones added two each.
In the first game of the final day, Barbados fought from a goal down to beat US Virgin Islands, 3-1, in the match for 15th place. Vincent Schulz got USVI off to a strong start with the opening goal, but Barbados claimed the victory on goals from Andre Pinder, Elvin Griffith and Ramon Manning.
NASSAU, Bahamas, Mon. Feb 27, 2017 (Concacaf.com)–Following Panama’s 4-2 win over Mexico in the 2017 CONCACAF Beach Soccer final on Sunday at the Malcolm Park Beach Soccer Facility, award winners were named in five categories.
Here’s a list of the winners:
GOLDEN BALL
Alfonso Maquensi (Panama)
GOLDEN BOOT
Jose Ramon Maldonado Alonso (Mexico) & Marlon Meza (Belize), 12 goals
GOLDEN GLOVE
Diego Villaseñor (Mexico)
BEST YOUNG PLAYER
Jamal Haynes (Guyana)
FAIR PLAY
Canada