7 September 2006

Top Brazilian beach soccer coach Marcelo Mendes will guide the South African team through the 2006 Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup qualifier taking place in Durban later this month, and oversee a groundbreaking development programme in the country.

Earlier this year, Mendes coached the Uruguayan beach soccer team to qualification for Rio de Janeiro's Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup 2006 by finishing second in the fiercely competitive South American qualifying tournament, held in Macaé, Brazil in March.

The Uruguayans made it all the way to the final where they were eventually stopped by hosts Brazil.

Prolific success
The 36-year-old Mendes previously enjoyed prolific success as the coach of the national beach soccer side from Portugal, taking them to third place in the 1999 Beach Soccer World Championships, and into the finals of the Mundialito, Euro Beach Soccer League, and Latin Cup.

He will also oversee the vital development programme that will train not only aspirant beach soccer players in South Africa, but also coaches and referees, with the intention of making Durban an established home of beach soccer globally.

Once Mendes has coached the South African team at the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup 2006 qualifier Durban, he will devote much of his time and energy to the implementation of the sweeping development programme that will take the discipline of beach soccer to football-hungry youngsters around the country.

'Delighted to have this opportunity'
"I am delighted to have this opportunity to join the team that is taking beach soccer to South Africa," Mendes said. "There is such passion for the game in this country, and I am sure that the unique skills needed to succeed at beach soccer are abundant here.

"I am just as passionate about taking this sport into the communities and using the values of beach soccer to change the lives of the youth in South Africa," he added.

Mendes has also taken the São Paulo state beach soccer team to the Brazilian national championships three times in the past four years.

The Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup 2006 qualifier takes place in Durban from 26 to 30 September.

For more information, visit Beach Soccer SA.

SouthAfrica.info reporter

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	Brazilian beach soccer coach Marcelo Mendes (Photo: Gameplan Media)

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