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Wave's Bennett, Chamale fall short with Canadian beach soccer team

02/23/2017, 9:45pm CST
By ERIC ANDERSON
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The Milwaukee Wave duo of Ian Bennett and Daniel Chamale and their Canadian teammates were less than 12 minutes away from advancing to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship on Thursday afternoon in the Bahamas.

But Guadeloupe rallied for two late goals, scoring in the 28th and 29th minutes of the 36-minute match to pull out a 4-3 victory in a Group B finale in Nassau. The win sent Guadeloupe (2-1) into Friday's quarterfinals; Canada (1-2) would have moved on to the final eight if it had won the match.

Bennett, wearing the captain's armband, gave Canada the lead with his second goal of the tournament in the opening minute. Nazim Belguendouz put Canada ahead again 3-2 with his free kick seconds into the third period, but the slim lead didn't hold up.

Canada beat Barbados 6-4 in its opener Monday, and Bennett and Chamale each scored in an 8-3 loss to Mexico on Tuesday. Bennett gave Canada the lead in the 7th minute, but the reigning champions rattled off five goals in just 14 minutes before Chamale pulled one back in the 26th.

Wave forward Robert Renaud, who was named to Canada's initial 11-man roster for the tournament, was removed due to injury.

The Canadians will finish between ninth and 11th in the 16-team event. They'll face Costa Rica (1-2) on Friday, then Guyana or Antigua and Barbuda on Saturday, and the tournament concludes with eight placement matches on Sunday.

On Twitter: @IanBennett26

  • Former Wave forward Nick Perera had hat trick for the U.S. in its 8-1 rout of the U.S. Virgin Islands in its opener Monday. The Americans (3-0) won Group C and will face Panama (2-1) in the quarterfinals, but saw Perera sent off during their 5-1 win over Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday. The two finalists likely will earn spots in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, which is April 27 to May 7 also in Nassau – Bahamas gets a berth as the host nation and Guadeloupe is not eligible as it is not a FIFA member; if one of them advances to the final, then the next-highest eligible team will claim a spot.

Tag(s): International  Milwaukee Wave  News