Mexicans are getting back into the swing of normal life as the government announced that the worst is over and has eased curbs on commercial and public activity. For this reason CONCACAF and BSWW jointly took the decision to start setting new dates for the North and Central American Qualifying competition.

On April 22 the six participating nations were drawn into two pools, where they will round-robin and see the two top teams advance to the semi-finals. The two finalists will be the CONCACAF representatives at the world’s most prestigious beach soccer showdown, the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup that will take place in spectacular Dubai from November 16-22.

Hosts and defending champion Mexico were drawn into Group A with last year’s surprise act El Salvador, and Canada who’s making its comeback on the International Beach Soccer scene. El Tri will start their qualifying campaign by facing off with the Canadians on day 1 of the Puerto Vallarta showdown and will confront with El Salvador for a semi-final spot on Friday the 19th.

The USA was given the perfect shot to bounce back from last year’s deception as they were drawn into Group B with Costa Rica and newcomers Bahamas to kick-off the CONCACAF Qualifier as red-hot favourites to reach the semis.

MATCH SCHEDULE

Group A
A1 – Mexico
A2 – El Salvador
A3 – Canada

Group B
B1 – USA
B2 – Costa Rica
B3 – Bahamas

GROUP STAGE

Wed June 17
5:00 pm – USA vs. Bahamas
6:15 pm – Mexico vs. Canada

Thu June 18
5:00 pm – Costa Rica vs. Bahamas
6:15 pm – El Salvador vs. Canada

Fri June 19
5:00 pm – USA vs. Costa Rica
6:15 pm – Mexico vs. El Salvador

SEMI-FINALS*

Sat June 20
5th & 6th Place
3:00 pm – 3rd of Group A vs. 3rd of Group B

Semi-final 1
4:15 pm – 1st of Group B vs. 2nd of Group A

Semi-final 2
5:30 pm – 1st of Group A vs. 2nd of Group B

*the order of Semi-finals kick-off times may be altered by the Organizing Committee

PLAY-OFF FOR THIRD / FOURTH PLACE & FINAL

Sun June 21
Play-off 3rd/4th
4:15 pm – Loser M7 vs. Loser M8

Final
5:30 pm – Winner M7 vs. Winner M8

Four countries already have confirmed their participation for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Qualifier CONCACAF: Costa Rica, El Salvador, host Mexico and the United States with additional teams possible. The deadline for entries is February 27.

This will be the third straight year the tournament has been played in Mexico. In 2007, Beach Soccer WorldWide staged the championship in Acapulco further south along the Pacific coast.

Mexico will look to defend its title and qualify for a third straight FFIA Beach Soccer World Cup set for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates November 16-22.

The tournament will qualify two teams for the World Cup. El Salvador claimed its first trip to the world championship in 2008, while the United States failed to qualify for the first time in four years.

Golf reports… Ochoa continued her dominance of women’s golf Sunday, April 6, with a five-shot victory in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, giving her the last two majors by a combined nine shots. She was the only player without a bogey in the final round on a tough Mission Hills course, closing with a 5-under 67 and taking the greatest swim of her life.

Read more from Golf

Ochoa’s website is filled with the amazing accomplishments of this remarkable 26-year-old superstar athlete.

The events take place at Agustín Flores Contreras Stadium, which is on Blvd. Fco Medina Ascencio B7-K, from April 17-20 (Thursday – Sunday), with matches at 5:15 pm & 6:30 pm. Admission is FREE.

Several tons of sand has transformed a field at the Agustin Flores Contreras sports complex into a beach soccer stadium to welcome teams from the four North American countries competing for two tickets to this sport’s world championship.

This is the first time that México will host this international event. This is also the qualifying venue for the World Cup, the most important competition of the season for the Confederación Norte, Centroamérica y el Caribe de Futbol (Concacaf (Northern, Central American, Caribbean Federation).

The four participating teams will compete for the two tickets to the world championship in Marseilles during the three day event.

Each day there will be back-to-back games, with the first game starting at 5:15 pm and the second at 6:30 pm.

Thursday, April 17
5:15 pm — United States vs Costa Rica
6:30 pm — El Salvador vs Mexico

Friday, April 18,
5:15 pm — El Salvador vs United States
6:30 pm — México vs Costa Rica.

Saturday, April 19
5:15 pm — El Salvador vs Costa Rica
6:30 pm — Mexico vs United States

Sunday, April 20, there will be a game featuring Mexican team against an international “All Stars” team, with players from around the globe.

Marseilles will host the Beach Soccer World Cup next July, following the preliminary rounds held in:
Puerto Vallarta by Concacaf
Buenos Aires by the South American Soccer Association (Confederacion Sudamericana de futbol)
Durban, South Africa
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Benidorm, Spain,
allowing teams from all continents.

Sixteen teams will be selected from among these teams to play in the World Cup, which will follow the finals in Benidorm.

The coach for the national selection for beach soccer, Ramón Raya, announced that the support from the Fidecomiso de Turismo (Tourism Trust) and the Ayuntamineto de Puerto Vallarta (Puerto Vallarta City Government) has made this great sporting event possible for the city. He also says they are “very eager to have such an event. We will be prepared and our main objective will be to be represented during the world championship in Marseilles. We hope to have the support of Vallartans to continue making history in this sport.”

Mark your calendar now…
Agustín Flores Contreras Stadium
Blvd. Fco Medina Ascencio B7-K
April 17-20, 5:15pm & 6:30pm
Free admission