By Wendy Anders

Costa Rica’s national beach soccer team faced off against Japan in two friendly matches this weekend, said the Costa Rican soccer federation (Fedefut).

During Saturday’s match at the beach soccer field at Fedefut’s Alajuela soccer complex, the Japanese played a game of great speed with effective offensive action, reported Fedefut.

This duel ended with a score of 4-3 in favor of Japan. At one point, Costa Rica came from 0-3 down to tie the match, but in the end, the Japanese team made a goal in the final minutes, said Fedefut.

The second match took place Sunday at Punta Leona, on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific coast. This one also ended 4-3 in favor of the Japanese, who played a very fast game.

Japan’s national team occupies eighth place in the discipline’s world rankings.

These friendly matches served as a high-profile warm-up in preparation for a pre-World Cup tournament to be played in The Bahamas from February 20 – 26, said Fedefut.

Beach soccer, also known as beach football or beasal, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand. The game emphasises skill, agility and shooting at goal, said Wikipedia.

“The irregularity of the soft-sand playing surface leads to a totally different style of play than is used in traditional soccer,with a greater degree of improvisation,” said FIFA – the sport’s governing body. The compact field, much smaller than a normal field, allows players to score from anywhere on the sand, leading to an average of sixty attempts at goal in a single game.