England beach soccer player-manager John Scales believes the sport in this country has found its home in Brighton.

The former Liverpool, Tottenham and Wimbledon defender is currently playing for his side in the three-day Pro-Beach Soccer Kronenbourg Cup, which kicked off on Friday on the seafront off Madeira Drive, Brighton.

Hundreds came to the 3,000 seater purpose-built stadium to see the four teams involved, England, Portugal, France and Italy, show off their skills.

The games are being played over three 12-minute periods on a pitch about a third of the size of that used in normal football. Players have to play in bare feet and there are two referees standing on opposite touchlines, who can give out yellow, blue and red cards to players who break the rules.

England were edged out 6-4 by current European champions Portugal in the first match, while the French, who were missing former Manchester United legend Eric Cantona because he had missed his flight, beat Italy 3-2.

The tournament is the UK leg of the European Pro-Beach Soccer League (ESPL), which is split into two divisions. The teams competing in the Kronenbourg Cup, plus Spain, make up Group A, while Germany, Norway, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland form Group B. Each country hosts a tournament throughout the summer and the top two teams from each group then qualify for the Monaco Super Cup Finals in August.

It is the second successive year the Kronenbourg Cup has been held in Brighton after the success of the 2002 tournament, which was voted the best event of all the venues in the ESPL.

Scales, who started playing beach soccer after retiring from professional football two years ago, insists England now have a venue to match any country in the competition.

He is hoping his side can now live up to the standard of the venue and after a spirited display against tournament favourites Portugal, he is confident England will soon be ranked amongst the best.

He said: "With the tournament coming back to Brighton after last year, the sport has definitely found its home in England. Brighton is a great place to have it because it has everything. The beach, the pier and the city is all set for a tournament like this, so it is a perfect environment for me and the team to play here.

"We have got better since the tournament here last year. From the competitions we have been playing in recently it is evident we have been making a lot of progress, but there is still work to do.

"These guys from Portugal, Italy and France, have been playing the sport for five, six, seven years so they have more experience of it but we are optimistic we are heading in the right direction."

The strong Portugal side have already won the first tournament of the 2003 ESPL, held in their own country three weeks ago.

Captain Hernani Neves was also impressed with Brighton.

He said: "It is beautiful. It is one of the best in Europe and it is good to play here, but it is a lot different."

England's opponents today will be France, who coped well without Cantona against Italy.

The 37-year-old is expected to make a belated appearance today, where he will be looking to show off the skills which made him a great at Old Trafford.

Brother Joel Cantona is the coach of the team and he insists beach soccer will boom in many countries across the world, including England.

He said: "The sport is already installed and it has got its own identity so it will grow. In the next three years there will be a world-wide league with a lot more countries taking part although I don't think all nations can be good at it, like rugby.

"The teams taking part at the moment are improving all the time and have levelled each other out in the last couple of years. The difference between the top teams France, Italy, Portugal and Spain is not so big and others like England are coming up, which is good for the sport."

Albion assistant manager Bob Booker enjoyed his run-out in an exhibition game but does not think he will be a regular.

He said: "The last time I played on sand was when I was a kid, so I don't think the England boys have anything to worry about because I don't think I'm a threat to their places."

Saturday's matches: Beach soccer exhibition (2pm), Portugal v Italy (3pm), England v France (4pm).

Sunday's matches: Brighton U-19s v Isle of Wight U-19s, England v Italy (3pm), Portugal v France (4pm).