T&T will come up against the USA and host Costa Rica among its three Group C round-robin matches when the 2021 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship takes place in Alajuela, Costa Rica from May 17-23.
This was confirmed following the 12-team draw for the competition held via live stream from Miami, Florida, USA on Monday.
The Concacaf Beach Soccer rankings as of December 19 were used to distribute the 12 teams into four pots, with the draw dividing the teams into three groups of four teams.
The T&T squad will open its campaign versus Costa Rica on Monday, May 17, before facing the USA a day later and Turks and Caicos Islands in their final match.
Group A comprises defending champions Mexico, Panama, Guadeloupe, and Belize while Group B consist of 2019 runners-up El Salvador, Bahamas, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic.
After round-robin play, the top two finishers in each group and the two best third-place teams will advance to the knockout stage.
The knockout stage will begin with the quarterfinal matches on May 21, followed by the semifinals on May 22.
In addition to qualifying for the competition’s final on May 23, the two semifinal winners will earn a spot in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Moscow Russia from August 19-29, 2021.
T&T has reached the quarterfinals of the Concacaf event three times, in 2015, 2017 and 2019 and for this year’s qualifiers will be under the charge of former Barcelona and Spanish beach football star Ramiro Amarelle.
The 43-year old Amarelle, is expected to officially take up his appointment later this month, after arriving on local soil last week.
He will be joined by assistant coach and analyst Jaime Paz in a few days while Maria Gordo, another assistant and mental coach, is already in T&T undergoing quarantine at the Home of Football in Balmain Couva.
All three coaches will serve for the preparation phase, as well as for the Concacaf Qualifiers, which takes place at the Complejo Deportivo FEDEFUTBOL Plycem, in Alajuela, Costa Rica.
Amarelle is also a FIFA instructor and advisor and holds a UEFA Pro License coaching badge.
The rest of the T&T team’s technical staff comprises Ryan Augustine (player/assistant coach), Dr Jason Pilgrim (athletic trainer), Dr Oba Gulston (manager) and Yuri Chapman (assistant manager/kitman).