U.S. Beach Soccer Men’s National Team Defeats Argentina 5-2 to Cap Milestone 2023 Campaign

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Nov. 9, 2023) – The U.S. Men’s Beach Soccer National Team finished its record-setting 2023 campaign with an emphatic 5-2 victory against Argentina in the second of two international friendlies this week at the Predio Deportivo Lionel Andrés Messi on Thursday. The USA received a brace from Chris Albiston to go along with goals from Nick Perera, Andres Navas and Nico Perea, while goalkeeper Chris Toth collected two assists and shut the hosts out until the final two minutes of the match.

As the team continues to prepare for next February’s FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the win saw the USA finish 2023 with a stellar 11-3-0 record, setting a new team milestone for wins in a calendar year. while the team’s 75 goals this year are the second highest after the 80 scored in 2019.  

Much like Argentina got on the board early in Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat, the USA returned the favor, tallying just 28 seconds into the match. Goalkeeper Chris Toth started the play, juggling the ball out of the back before playing it to Nick Perera on the right. The U.S. captain volleyed it towards the back post, where Albiston rose above his marker to nod his effort back inside the right post for his second goal in as many matches.

Having tallied the game-winner from a free kick in Tuesday’s contest, Argentina saw its best chance of the first period come on another dead ball opportunity when Lautaro Bonzetti blasted a powerful effort from midfield that Toth parried away to his right, allowing the USA to go into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.

Toth was involved in each of the three major plays during the second period, with the U.S. goalkeeper provided the next danger three minutes in, when he again juggled the ball out of the back before unleashing a right-footed volley. The blast was destined for the top left corner, but Argentina goalkeeper Mariano Mansilla pushed it to his right.

WATCH: USA 5, Argentina 2 | Nov. 9, 2023

With just over three minutes left in the second period, Lukas Holocher attempted to play the ball back to Toth, but the pass wasn’t powerful enough and allowed Benaducci an open look on goal, but the attacker’s effort was expertly pushed away by Toth at the right post.

The U.S. would go up 2-0 on another play started out of the back by Toth. Juggling the ball again, he volleyed to Perera on the left, who settled before popping the ball up and finishing a beautiful bicycle kick inside the lower right post to make it 2-0 with 1:22 left in the second period.

As Argentina kept searching for a goal, Toth continued his stellar play in the third period. The hosts had a golden opportunity about five minutes in, as Benaducci played a forward pass for Alejo Gonzalez, but the attacker’s right-footed effort from the left was kept out with a quick reaction save by the U.S. goalkeeper.

Just like he had on the first two goals, Toth sprung the USA’s third. Collecting the ball at the back, he quickly threw it to Andres Navas on the right, who touched it on the volley past his marker, before slamming home a close-range effort to make it 3-0 with 5:50 left to play in the match.

Despite an impressive defensive display, Toth’s shutout was spoiled with just over two minutes remaining in the match. After a foul at midfield, Nahuel Cipolleta blasted a powerful free kick that beat Toth inside the left post to pull one back for the hosts with 2:04 remaining.

That Argentina goal began a back-and-forth four-goal onslaught to end the match and the USA responded just 15 seconds later. Perera swung a restart from midfield to the left side line where Albiston collected and beat his marker before curling home his second of the match to make it 4-1 with 1:49 left.

Argentina hit back 30 seconds left as goalkeeper Mariano Masillas’ long throw found Lucas Ponzetti on the left. The Argentina captain volleyed the ball up before executing a bicycle kick which snuck inside the lower right post to make it 4-2 with 1:20 remaining.

The USA then restored its three-goal advantage with just over a minute left. Playing to the frantic pace of the match, Nico Perea started a quick combination with Conner Rezende in the right corner, with Rezende finding the defender who poked home the game’s final goal to make it 5-2.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• With the result, the USBMNT finishes 2023 with an 11-3-0 record, marking an all-time team high for wins in a calendar year. The previous high was seven wins, coming in both 2017 and 2019.
• The USBMNT also moved to 3-5-3 all-time vs. Argentina.
• Forward Chris Albiston’s brace marked his 20^th and 21^st career international goals to become just the seventh player in USBMNT history to pass the 20-goal threshold.
• Goalkeeper Chris Toth collected two assists and made 11 saves in his program-leading 97^th international appearance.
• Captain and USBMNT all-time leading goal scorer Nick Perera tallied his 114^th career goal and 10^th of 2023 in his 94^th career cap. Perera also registered his second assist of 2023 on Albiston’s opening goal. 
• Andres Navas scored his fifth international, coming in his 13^th career appearance.
• Defender Nico Perea tallied his 19^th career goal to move past current USBMNT head coach Francis Farberoff into eighth on the team’s all-time scoring list since U.S. Soccer began overseeing Beach Soccer in 2005.
• Conner Rezende provided his fourth assist of the year on Perea’s closing goal.
• Farberoff moves to 19-14-0 since taking over as USBMNT head coach in 2021.

-U.S. MEN’S BEACH SOCCER NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT-

Match: United States Beach Soccer Men’s National Team vs. Argentina
Date: November 9, 2023
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: Predio Deportivo Lionel Andrés Messi; Buenos Aires, Argentina
Attendance: 100
Kickoff: 8 a.m. ET (10 a.m. local)
Weather: 80 degrees, sunny

Scoring Summary:               1          2          3          F
ARG                                         1           1          3          5
USA                                         0          0          2          2

USA – Chris Albiston (Nick Perera)               11:32 (1st Period)
USA – Nick Perera (Chris Toth)                        1:22 (2^nd)
USA – Andres Navas (Chris Toth)                   5:50 (3rd)
ARG – Nahuel Cipolleta                                     2:04 (3rd)
USA – Chris Albiston                                         1:49 (3rd)
ARG – Lucas Ponzetti (Mariano Mansilla)    1:20 (3rd)
USA – Nico Perea (Conner Rezende)              1:02 (3rd)

Lineups:
USA: 1-Chris Toth, 5-Nico Perea, 7-Nick Perera (Capt.), 10-Conner Rezende, 11-Chris Albiston
Substitutes: 3-Antonio Chavez, 4-Ricardo Carvalho, 6-Cody Valcarcel, 8-Andres Navas, 9-Alessandro Canale, 12-Austin Collier, 14-Lukas Holocher
Head coach: Francis Farberoff

ARG: 12-Mariano Mansilla, 3-Emanuel De Sosa, 6-Manuel Pomar, 8-Lautaro Benaducci, 10-Lucas Ponzetti (Capt.)
Substitutes: 1-Sebastian Polatti, 2-Axel Rutterschmidt, 4-Fermín Clivio, 5-Nahuel Cipolletta, 7-Emiliano Holmedilla, 9-Alejo Gonzalez, 11-Nahuel Gigena
Head coach: Hernán Magrini

Misconduct Summary:
none

Stats: ARG / USA
Shots: 30 / 25
Shots on Goal: 13 / 13
Saves: 8 / 11
Corner Kicks: 2 / 2
Fouls: 4 / 10

Officials:
N/A