Four former players, assistant coach to head to FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
(Nghi Nguyen/Daily Bruin)
By Rivaldo Moran-Salguero
Nov. 21, 2019 12:07 a.m.
The Bruins have gone international.
The 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is set to kick off Thursday in Paraguay as four former UCLA men’s soccer athletes will compete on the sand for Team USA, as will one former Bruin coach from the sidelines for the U.S. men’s national team.
Former assistant coach Edwin Soto will be at the helm for the United States men’s team as it faces off against Japan, Switzerland and Paraguay in Group A. Alongside Soto are former Bruins: goalkeeper Juan Cervantes, and defenders Ryan Futagaki, Jason Leopoldo, and Oscar Reyes.
All four of these players had long careers at UCLA. Leopoldo played four years at UCLA and scored 13 goals and earned some Pac-10 honors in his time. Futagaki nabbed nine goals and 11 assists in his four years with the Bruins. Reyes did not make a large splash on the UCLA scene as he collected zero goals and zero assists for the Bruins.
The last time the U.S. qualified for the Beach Soccer World Cup was in 2013 when it won only one game, failing to advance past the group stage. The United States has since failed to qualify for the 2015 and 2017 World Cups.
En route to earning its qualification, the U.S. finished runner-up to Mexico in the 2019 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship Puerto Vallarta, losing the final by a score of 6-2.
Its performance was enough to secure one of 16 spots in Paraguay. Among the other nations competing are Russia, Portugal and Brazil, which have all won the tournament before.
Since losing to Mexico in the finals, the U.S. side has won two of its last three competitions. The team is coming off a 9-3 win against Trinidad and Tobago, a loss in penalties versus Mexico and an 8-6 victory against Panama. In these games, both Reyes and Leopoldo have managed to notch a combined seven goals.
In its 13 appearances in the Beach Soccer World Cup, the U.S. has only managed to finish second, but it will get another opportunity to change that this year.
The U.S. begins group action against Switzerland on Thursday, with kickoff scheduled for 12:50 p.m.
