GUATEMALA CITY - Canada lost 4-1 to El Salvador on Thursday in the opening leg of a two-game playoff to get into the CONCACF Futsal Championship.
Futsal is a five-a-side indoor version of the soccer, played over two 20-minute periods. It is believed to date back to Uruguay in 1930.
Alex Elliot scored the lone Canadian goal. The second leg is set for Friday.
"In all honesty we just couldn't execute today," said Canadian coach Sipho Sibiya, who has represented Canada in both futsal and beach soccer.
"We missed a few chances that came back to haunt us. And then they scored — we let some soft ones in. And we were kind of playing catchup after that. ... They finished on their chances and we didn't. Simple as that."
The winner of the total goal playoff series will join host Guatemala, Panama and the U.S. in Group A at the regional qualifier, which runs July 2-8 in Guatemala City. Group B consists of Cuba, Mexico, Costa Rica and St. Kitts.
CONCACAF covers North and Central American and the Caribbean.
The four semifinalists will advance to the FIFA Futsal World Cup in November in Thailand.
"It's a fast game," said Sibiya. "You've got to think quick on your feet, think quick with your mind. It's technical. We're trying to teach the boys that in a span of days."
The Canadian team had little time together prior to taking on El Salvador, other than a camp lasting four to five days in Costa Rica. The Canadian side lost a pair of friendlies to Costa Rica: 2-1 and 4-0.
"All these teams in CONCACAF have basically been together for years," said Sibiya. "So it's a crash course for us, but the boys have responded well to what we've taught them and we'll see what happens (Friday)."
Canada took part in the inaugural Futsal World Cup in the Netherlands in 1989, when CONCACAF teams received invitations to compete in the indoor world championship.
The Canadians went 1-2 that year, exited after the first round and have never been back since. Canada has not been involved in regional qualifying since 2004.
Sibiya played outdoor soccer for the Vancouver 86ers, Montreal Impact and Edmonton Aviators and had a lengthy career playing indoors. He was an assistant coach with the Vancouver Whitecaps women's team last year.
