USA roster revealed for 2021 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship

CHICAGO, Ill. – U.S. Beach Soccer Men’s National Team Head Coach Francis Farberoff has announced the 12-player roster that will represent the USA at the 2021 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship in Costa Rica from May 17-23.

The USA will aim to secure one of two Concacaf berths for the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Russia this August. The USA was drawn into Group C of the 11-team field.

USA – GROUP C SCHEDULE:
Mon., May 17: USA v Turks and Caicos Islands (2:30 p.m. ET)
Tues., May 18: USA v Trinidad and Tobago (2:30 p.m. ET)
Wed., May 19: USA v Costa Rica (4 p.m. ET)

After group play, the first and second place teams in each of the three groups plus the two best third-place teams will advance to the quarterfinals. The two semifinal winners will qualify for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and play for the Concacaf title.

“We are a family that’s willing to work hard for each other,” said Farberoff. “That’s the quality of this roster. We have a group of dynamic players who are complete offensively and defensively, there’s a mix of experienced and younger players that together are very proud to represent the National Team.”

The roster includes significant experience at the international level. Forward Nick Perera and goalkeeper Chris Toth are set to appear in their fifth consecutive Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019), while forward Alessandro Canale and defender Jason Santos are making their fourth straight World Cup qualifying roster (2015, 2017, 2019). Perera, Toth and Canale were also teammates at the 2013 and 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups, joined in the latter tournament by Santos as well as defenders David Mondragon and Gabe Silveira.

“Our objective is to qualify for the World Cup and to win the tournament,” added Farberoff. “But our first objective is to win the first game- we’re focused on Turks and Caicos.”

Fans can watch the Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship matches on TUDN platforms and the official Concacaf App.

U.S. BEACH SOCCER MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION (Hometown)

GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Chris Toth (San Marcos, Calif., 12-Esteban Sapetnitzky (Miami, Fla.)

DEFENDERS (4): 2-Jason Santos (Cardiff-By-Sea, Calif.), 3-David Mondragon (Santa Cruz, Calif.), 5-Nicolas Perea (Hollywood, Fla.), 10-Gabe Silveira (San Francisco, Calif.)

FORWARDS (6): 4-Fredo Dilbert (Miami, Fla.), 6-Chris Albiston (Virginia Beach, Va.),7-Nick Perera (Carlsbad, Calif.), 8-Alessandro Canale (Venice, Calif.) 9-Antonio Chavez (Oceanside, Cali.), 11-Conner Rezende (Davie, Fla.)

Head Coach: Francis Farberoff (Miami, Fla.)
Assistant Coach: Ben Astorga (Miami, Fla.)
Performance Coach: Daniel Wartner (Atlanta, Ga.)

The USA will gather in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. on May 10 before departing for Costa Rica on May 14. The Beach Soccer MNT will follow the comprehensive U.S. Soccer Return to Play Protocols and Guidelines during the pre-tournament training camp and the tournament.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

All matches will be played without fans at the Costa Rican Football Federation complex, Complejo Deportivo FEDEFUTBOL Plycem, in Alajuela, Costa Rica.
The USA has won the Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship twice, in 2006 and 2013. The U.S. finished as runner-up in 2019, each time qualifying for that year’s World Cup.
The USA also qualified for the 2005 and 2007 World Cups. In those years, Concacaf and CONMEBOL held a combined qualifying tournament. The USA finished third in 2005 and won the combined competition in 2007.
Five players have previously played in the Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship:
- Perera (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
- Toth (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
- Canale (2015, 2017, 2019)
- Santos (2015, 2017, 2019)
- Mondragon (2019)
Six players have FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup experience:
- Perera (2013, 2019)
- Toth (2013, 2019)
- Canale (2013, 2019)
- Mondragon, Santos, Siveira (2019)
Perera is the USA’s all-time leading scorer at the Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship with 37 goals: 11 in 2013, nine in 2015, four in 2017 and 13 in 2019.
- Canale is fourth with 14 goals: two in 2015, nine in 2017 and three in 2019.
- Toth has six goals: one in 2013, two in 2015 and three in 2017
- Santos scored twice in the 2017 tournament.
- Mondragron scored three goals in the 2019 competition.
Perera is also the USA’s all-time leading scorer in beach soccer and enters the tournament with 99 career international goals.
The World Cup veterans have also scored goals on the global stage: Perera has scored seven World Cup goals (five in 2013, two in 2019). Canale has four (two in 2013, two in 2019) while Toth (one in 2019) and Santos (one in 2019) have also tallied at the World Cup.
The roster consists of seven players from California, four from Florida and one from Virginia Beach, Va.
Albiston, Dilbert and Rezende have all earned caps with the Beach Soccer MNT in tournaments and friendlies prior to 2020, while Chavez, Perea and Sapetniksy will aim to make their international debuts.
Perera, Toth and Canale were teammates with the Tacoma Stars of the Major Arena Soccer League during the 2020-21 season, where Perera is also the head coach.
Nicolas Perea has played 11-a-side as professional, most recently with Indy Eleven of the United Soccer League Championship.
Named head coach in July 2020 , Farberoff brings tremendous experience with the U.S. Beach Soccer MNT.
- He played in the inaugural 2005 World Cup qualifying tournament and seven qualifying tournaments overall, scoring in each competition for a combined 10 goals.
- He was an assistant coach with the Beach MNT for the past five years, including the team’s appearance at the 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
Assistant coach Ben Astorga also brings plenty of Beach MNT experience as a teammate with Farberoff at the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championships.
Farberoff and Astorga were members of the USA’s first four FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup rosters.
In case of serious injury, teams may replace a player from the 12-player roster with a player from the 20-player provisional list up until 24 hours before kickoff of the first game, as approved by Concacaf.