CHICAGO, Ill. (April 4, 2023) – The U.S. Men’s and Women’s Beach Soccer National Teams will travel to El Salvador to compete in the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) World Beach Games Qualifiers from April 6-8 at Estadio Nacional de la Costa del Sol. WNT head coach Morgan Church and MNT head coach Francis Farberoff have each selected 12 players, as both teams aim to finish among the top two teams in the respective tournaments to earn berths at the second edition of the World Beach Games in August in Bali, Indonesia.
The Women will face the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador in the round-robin tournament. The Men’s tournament is a knockout format, with the USA opening in the Quarterfinals against Belize. The winner will play the winner of the quarterfinal between the Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago, while the losing sides will meet in a placement game. The other side of the bracket sees Guatemala play Costa Rica, with the winner set to face El Salvador in the other Semifinal.
The MNT roster is led by two three-time FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup veterans in goalkeeper Chris Toth and pivo Alessandro Canale (2013, 2019, 2021), two-time World Cup ala and the team’s leading scorer the past two years, Gabriel Silveira, and Nico Perea, who has been named U.S. Beach Soccer Male Player of the Year in each of the last two years.
The WNT roster features the team’s first and third all-time leading scorers Lauren Leslie and Kilee Quigley, respectively, as well as Ali Hall, who also won back-to-back Beach Soccer Female Player of the Year honors in 2021 and 2022.
The USA Women return to Costa del Sol almost a year to the date of winning the El Salvador Beach Soccer Cup last April in the same venue, marking the team’s first international trophy - in only its fourth competition - since debuting in 2019. At that 2022 Tournament, the Beach WNT defeated Argentina 4-2, beat Bahamas 5-2 in the second match, and edged El Salvador 3-1 with two third period goals. Leslie was recognized as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after scoring four goals. Quigley and Hall finished three goals apiece and along with Leslie, also scored in the three games.
The Men are looking to build off a successful 2022 where they were runners-up at Mundialito Gran Canaria - where Toth was honored as the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament, and sixth at the Intercontinental Cup in Dubai.
All games will be broadcasted on ESPN 3 and streamed on Beachsoccer Worldwide’s Beach Soccer TV. Fans can follow along on US Soccer’s Extended National Teams’ Instagram @ussoccer_ent and Twitter @ussoccer_ent pages.
Thursday, April 6:
WNT vs BAH - 6pm ET
MNT vs BLZ - 8:45pm ET
Friday, April 7
WNT vs TRI - 6pm ET
MNT vs (pending) - TBD
Saturday, April 8
WNT vs SLV - 8:30pm ET
MNT vs (pending) - TBD
^ = Uncapped
GOALKEEPERS (2): ^Austin Collier (Chesapeake, VA), Chris Toth (Fallbrook, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (3): Antonio Chavez (Oceanside, Calif.), ^Alvaro Franco (Miami, Fla.), Nicolas Perea (Hollywood, Fla.)
ALAS (5): Chris Albiston (Virginia Beach, VA.), ^Lukas Holocher (Santa Cruz, Calif.), Andres Navas (Miami, Fla.), Gabriel Silveira (San Francisco, Calif.), Cody Valcarcel (Santa Cruz, Calif.)
PIVOS (2): Alessandro Canale (Venice Beach, Calif.), Conner Rezende (Davie, Fla.)
Head Coach: Francis Farberfoff
^ = Uncapped
GOALKEEPERS (2): Gabriella Batmani (San Jose, Calif.), Melissa Lowder (San Diego, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (3): Makenzie Chronopoulos (Yucaipa, Calif.), ^Kelly Garzon (Fresno, Calif.), Vanessa Valentine (San Diego, Calif.)
ALAS (5): ^Hannah Adler (Oak Park, Calif.), Ali Hall (Chicago, Ill.), Rachel Hunter (Raleigh, NC), Lauren Leslie (San Clemente, Calif.), Jeanne Sunseri-Warp (San Jose, Calif.)
PIVOS (2): Danielle Kovacevic (Pasadena, Calif.), Kilee Quigley (Salt Lake City, Utah),
Head Coach: Morgan Church