El Salvador
Sand Origin
Playa El Esteron, by La Tortuga Verde
Random Sand Fact
The plan was regular football. Sand became plan B. A few years later, El Salvador was in the Beach Soccer World Cup semi-finals.
In communities surrounded by mangroves on El Salvador’s coast, a coach tried to start regular football training in 2004. But there was too little open ground, so the players began training on loose sand instead.
What began as a practical solution became a switch of sport. Many of the players were fishermen from the islands and already used to moving on sand.
Seven years later, El Salvador reached the Beach Soccer World Cup semi-finals and finished fourth after beating host nation Italy along the way.
