AFTER CAPTAINING the Trinidad and Tobago beach soccer team to fifth position at the CONCACAF qualifiers earlier this month, Ryan Augustine will make his much anticipated return in Brazil today, when he begins a three-week training regime with stalwart South American beach soccer clubs, Flamengo and Botafogo.
Augustine, who specialises in defensive play, was afforded this golden opportunity to elevate his professional career upon signing to The Brazil Link (TBL) Sports Management recently. TBL’s sport executive Narada Wilson welcomed Augustine to the unique football-oriented fraternity and revealed that this was the first time that any local footballer was provided with a chance to play for both top-flight Brazilian clubs.
Augustine will begin a two-week training stint with Flamengo today before the club departs for a tournament in Barcelona, Spain. He will also be provided with a one-week training spell with Botafogo.
The national beach soccer standout is expected to arrive in Brazil today, just hours before his first training session with Flamengo at the Copacabana Beach. Flamengo are presently in training for their trip to Spain as well as the Brazil Beach Soccer League, set to start in August.
Reports emanating after lunch yesterday revealed that Flamengo beach soccer coach Marcelo Santoro is eagerly awaiting to meet with Augustine in an effort to bolster his outfit for forthcoming competitions. Additionally, local beach soccer president Kyle Lequay and manager Yuri Chapman are pleased with this opportunity presented and have together embarked on getting other TT players more involved in initiatives such as these in an effort to boost the rapidly growing sport locally.