PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (April 18, 2008) -- The U.S. Beach Soccer Team fell to El Salvador, 6-5, on Friday, setting up an important showdown with Mexico in the third and final game of the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship.

The U.S. and El Salvador now sit tied for second place, with the top two teams advancing to the 2008 FIFA Beach World Cup in Marseilles, France. The U.S. has qualified for every Beach Soccer World Cup to date.

The U.S. took a quick lead against El Salvador, with Anthony Chimienti getting on the board just seven seconds into the match for his second goal of the tournament. Benyam Astorga added to the U.S. effort, and Jevin Albuquerque and Brendon Taguinod added single tallies in the effort.

The USA meets Mexico at 6:30 p.m. local time on April 19.



U.S. 2008 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Schedule
Date        Match up/Result
April 17   USA 7, Costa Rica 2
April 17   Mexico 4, El Salvador 2
April 18   El Salvador 6, USA 5
April 18   Mexico 7, Costa Rica 0
April 19   El Salvador vs. Costa Rica
April 19   USA vs. Mexico

U.S. 2008 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship Standings

Team	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Mexico	2	0	0	11	2	+9
USA	1	1	0	12	6	+6
El Salvador	1	1	0	8	5	+3
Costa Rica	0	2	0	2	14	-12

U.S. Beach Soccer National Team Roster
GOALKEEPERS (2): Bayard Elfvin (Newark, N.J.), Luis Montanez (Hayward, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (6): Benyam Astorga (Miami, Fla.), Francis Farberoff (Miami Beach, Fla.), Jacob Long (Santa Cruz, Calif.), Austin Roman (Santa Monica, Calif.), Ronald Silva (Los Angeles, Calif.), Brendon Taguinod (Santa Cruz, Calif.)
FORWARDS (3): Jevin Albuquerque (Santa Cruz, Calif.), Anthony Chimienti (El Dorado Hills, Calif.), Yuri Morales (San Francisco, Calif.), Joshua Nolz (Virginia Beach, Va.)