Amid much excitement, 16 top teams will do battle for the Beach Soccer USA Cup this weekend.
Having ended CD Nacional’s run of three consecutive trophies in Oceanside last year, BSC Chargers Baselland return to defend their Beach Soccer USA Cup title this weekend.
The Swiss champions defeated Nacional and Culture FC en route to success in 2015 and form part of a strong 16-team line-up in California this time around.
This year marks the 10th edition of the competition and, alongside Chargers, USA-based side Culture will hope for another strong showing Stateside as they look to go one better than their run to the 2015 final.
RWB Beach, Gobeachsoccer PRO and NorCal BSC are also based in California and will be able to count on the home support while Portland BSC and Great Lakes BS complete the American contingent.
Culture and Gobeachsoccer will battle it out in Group D alongside Tahitian outfit Tiki Tama Beach Soccer and Antioquia BSC of Colombia as the champions take on RWB Beach and NorCal as well as Fusion of Japan in Group A.
Group C promises to be a tough pool as United Arab Emirates heavyweights Al Ahli will be well fancied to progress to the quarter-finals with the likes of Madjer and Portuguese team-mates Bruno Novo, Rui Coimbra and Jordan Santos all involved.
The dominant UAE champions face Botafogo Beach Soccer, Beach Soccer Zeeland and Portland while Group B features Colosseum Roma BS, Dorsole Kitakyusyu of Japan and Peruvian Metropolitano de Futbol Playa winners Punta Hermosa BSC.
The 2016 Beach Soccer USA Cup features an unprecedented 10 international teams and will see the top two sides from each group advance to the quarter-finals.
From there, the competition heats up further in the build-up to Sunday’s final. Fans can keep up to date with all the latest action via the BeachSoccerUSA website.
Match schedule
Friday, 13th of May
9:00 – NorCal BSC vs BSC Chargers (Pitch 1)
9:00 – RWB Beach vs Fusion (Pitch 2)
10.10 – Great Lakes BSC v Colosseum Roma BS (Pitch 1)
10.10 – Dorsole Kitakyusyu v Punta Hermosa (Pitch 2)
11.20 – Portland BSC v Al Ahli Club (Pitch 1)
11.20 – Botafogo Beach Soccer v Beach Soccer Zeeland (Pitch 2)
12.30 – Antioquia BSC v Tiki Tama Beach Soccer (Pitch 1)
12.30 – Culture FC v Gobeachsoccer (Pitch 2)
13.40 – BSC Chargers v Fusion (Pitch 1)
13.40 – RWB Beach v NorCal BSC (Pitch 2)
14.50 – Colosseum Roma BS v Punta Hermosa (Pitch 1)
14.50 – Dorsole Kitakyusyu v Great Lakes BSC (Pitch 2)
16.00 – Al Ahli Club v Beach Soccer Zeeland (Pitch 1)
16.00 – Botafogo Beach Soccer v Portland BSC (Pitch 2)
17.10 – Tiki Tama Beach Soccer v Gobeachsoccer (Pitch 1)
17.10 – Culture FC v Antioquia BSC (Pitch 2)
Saturday, 14th of May
8.00 – BSC Chargers v RWB Beach (Pitch 1)
8.00 – Fusion v NorCal BSC (Pitch 2)
9.15 – Colosseum Roma BS v Dorsole Kitakyusyu (Pitch 1)
9.15 – Punta Hermosa v Great Lakes BSC (Pitch 2)
10.30 – Al Ahli Club v Botafogo Beach Soccer (Pitch 1)
10.30 – Beach Soccer Zeeland v Portland BSC (Pitch 2)
11.45 – Tiki Tama Beach Soccer v Culture FC (Pitch 1)
11.45 – Gobeachsoccer v Antioquia BSC (Pitch 2)
