U.S. Beach Soccer Men’s National Team Fall To Host Spain 6-2 In Mundialito Opener
Gabriel Silveira and Nick Perera Score; USA Faces Portugal on July 22
GRAN CANARIA, Spain (July 21, 2022) – The U.S. Beach Soccer Men’s National Team fell to host Spain 6-2 in the opening match of the Mundialito Gran Canaria 2022 on Thursday at Maspalomas Gran Canaria Stadium. Tied 2-2 halfway through the second period with USA goals from Gabriel Silveira and Nick Perera, the home side scored four unanswered to close the second and take the lead in the standings after the first matchday. Portugal defeated Japan 7-5 in the earlier game.
In the Beach MNT’s first game of 2022, head coach Francis Farberoff’s first shift featured three players with multiple FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup appearances in Nick Perera, Chris Toth and Gabriel Silveria, plus 2021 World Cup debutants Nico Perea and Fredo Dilbert. Among the four reserves who saw action on the second line was 21-year-old William Lobato, who made his international debut after having participated in a number of domestic training camps over the past two years.
The first ten minutes of the opening period saw both teams’ veteran goalkeepers come up with big saves, as Toth lunged back to claw out a shot from Domingo and Spain’s Dona trapping Silveira’s backdoor header on the goal line.
The home side broke the deadlock with two goals scored seconds apart after ten minutes on bikes from Domingo and Antonio from close range.
The USA leveled early in the second period when Silveira put away a penalty kick and Perera found the net from the right side for his 104th career goal.
Spain’s reserve goalkeeper Camacho played the second period and made fantastic saves on a strike from Chris Albiston strike and a breakaway by Antonio Chavez.
Likewise, Toth kept the USA within striking distance with three quality saves, but the home team’s persistence paid off with four clinical finishes over the last five minutes of the second to put the game away, with Domingo biking one in from 20 yards, Chiky capitalizing on a giveaway off the restart and also converting a 12-yard free kick and Cassano finishing the scoring with an opportunistic chip from close range.
The USA will play Portugal on Friday and close out the four-team round robin on Saturday vs. Japan.
-U.S. BEACH MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT-
Match: United States Beach Soccer Men’s National Team vs. Spain
Date: July 21, 2022
Competition: Mundialito Gran Canaria 2022
Venue: Maspalomas Gran Canaria Stadium; San Bartolome de Tirajana, Gran Canaria, Spain
Attendance: 1500
Kickoff: 2:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. local time)
Weather: 784 degrees; sunny
Scoring Summary: 1 2 3 F
USA 0 2 0 2
ESP 2 4 0 6
ESP – Domingo 2’34” (1st Period)
ESP - Antonio 2’10” (1st)
USA - Gabriel Silveira (pk) 10:17 (2nd)
USA - Nick Perera 7:34 (2nd)
ESP - Alejandro 5:12 (2nd)
ESP - Chiky 5:08 (2nd)
ESP - Chiky 2:22 (2nd)
ESP - Cassano 0:07 (2nd)
Lineups:
USA: 1-Chris Toth, 4-Fredo Dilbert, 5-Nicolas Perea, 7-Nick Perera (Captain), 9-Gabriel Silveira
Substitutes: 2-Chris Albiston, 3-Antonio Chavez, 6-William Lobato, 8-Conner Rezende
Available but did not enter: 12-Xavier Snaer-Williams
Head coach: Francis Farberoff
ESP: 1-Francisco Donaire Lopez “Dona” (Captain); 4-“Pedro” Garcia Paredes, 10-“Antonio” Jose Mayor Hernandez, 18-Alejandro, 19-Francisco Sanchez Serrano “Cassano”
Substitutes: 22-Francisco Javier “Camacho” Gonzalez, 7-“Domingo” Cabrera Acosta, 11-Salvador Ardil Navarro “Chiky,” 14-Francisco “Mejias” Noya, 21-Joselito
Head coach: Cristian Mendez Lacarcel
Misconduct Summary:
USA – Gabriel Silveira (caution) 8’36 (3rd Period)
USA - Nick Perera (caution) 9’40 (3rd Period)
Officials:
Referee: Savario Bottalico (ITA)
2nd Referee: Fiammetta Susanna (ITA)
3rd Referee: Francisco Costa (POR)
Timekeeper: Matthieu Dor (FRA)