Beach soccer is a fairly big thing in the UAE. Makes sense. Lots of beaches here. All the major cities, save Al Ain, are on the water.

So, a couple of times a year some major tournaments are held here, generally in Dubai.

The beach soccer heavyweights are invited. Brazil, Russia, Portugal, Iran … but also often the United States, too.

And it turns out, despite beaches at both ends of the U.S., the Yanks are not very good at this beach soccer thing. Not anymore.

The U.S. team lost all three games in pool play, at the Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup in Dubai this week, to Russia, Brazil and Japan. Then went into the fifth-through-eighth semifinals, and lost that went 7-3 to Morocco, then got pushed around by Japan 6-1 in the seventh-place game.

Meaning the Yanks finished last, having lost all five matches.

Unlike soccer on grass, on which the U.S. appears to be making progress, or at least not slipping, the Yanks seem to be going backwards in beach soccer.

They were second (!) to Brazil in the 1995 Beach Soccer World Cup, fourth in 1996 and third in 1997.

Since then, however …

Brazil is the dominant beach soccer power, far more so than in futebol, having won 13 championships. Which makes sense. The game was pretty much invented on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro.

Russia, however, has won the past two Fifa Beach Soccer World Cups, which are staged every second year. The next will be in Portugal, next year.

Beach soccer is a tough sport. Try running and jumping on sand for 36 minutes — divided into three, 12-minute periods.

The ball doesn’t roll, so there is no dribbling. The ball is moved forward by players scooping it out of the sand with their bare feet.

The playing surface is 40 yards long by 38 yards wide.

Each team is made up of five players. More or less, it works out to a goalkeeper, two defenders and two attackers.

It seems to be a sport for little guys, perhaps because it is so aerobically demanding.

But it makes for a lot of shots, because the field is so short. Sixty shots in a game is not unusual.

The UAE, which finished sixth in the tournament, has been decent at this, and several of the countries sports clubs also field beach soccer teams.

It is a fan-friendly sport, with everything right there in front of you. Lots of action.

To me, it seems more interesting than beach volleyball, but the U.S. is much better at that than beach soccer. Maybe if it became an Olympic sport, Americans would be a bit more interested.