The England beach soccer team showed off their skills on Brighton beach to launch tickets sales for The Argus sponsored Kronenbourg Cup.

England captain and former Liverpool and Tottenham star John Scales put his players through their paces in a training session on Sunday aimed to promote the three-day tournament which starts on June 27.

It will be the second successive year the event has come to Brighton and it will again be staged in a purpose-built 3,000 seater stadium on the beach off Madeira Drive, Brighton.

More than 400 tonnes of sand will be shipped in to create the playing surface and the silky skills on show will be complemented by live music, dancing and entertainment to produce a festival atmosphere.

The event forms the UK leg of the European Pro Beach Soccer League (EPBSL) which features some of the best professional players in the world.

England will open the tournament against current European Champions Portugal before facing a French team led by former Manchester United great Eric Cantona the next day.

They then come up against a talented Italian side in their last game which includes ex-AC Milan and Italian international striker Daniele Massaro.

There will also be the chance to see former England midfielder Matt Le Tissier in action as he brings his Southampton All-Stars side along the south coast to take on the Albion All-Stars in a one-off showcase derby.

Last year's Kronenbourg Cup was voted the 'Best Event' of the EPBSL after all three days were a sell out and England player-coach Scales is hoping it will be just a good this time around.

He said: "We all can't wait for it to start because it was brilliant last year.

"To play in front of such a big crowd against some world class players in your home country was superb and hopefully it will be just as good again.

"We do not have the facilities in this country for beach soccer as they do abroad but we showed last time that the Kronenbourg Cup is a real success, so we are expecting another great tournament this year."

The top two qualifiers from England's group A, which also includes Spain, will progress through to the Monaco Super Finals at Monte Carlo in September.

They will then face the best two teams from group B which consists of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Norway as well as newcomers Belgium.

The games will be played on a five-a-side basis over three 12 minute periods with each team allowed to make as many substitutions as they like.

There are no draws, with three minutes of extra time played if the scores are level followed by penalty kicks.

All the games are officiated by two referees who stand either side of the pitch and players are forbidden from wearing any kind of hard footwear.

Tickets are priced at £9.50 for adults, £5.50 for children under 12 and £25 for a family of four (two adults and two children under 12). They are available from the Brighton Centre or by calling the ticket hotline on 0870 900 9100.

Further information on the event or England beach soccer can be obtained by visiting the official website www.ukbeachsoccer.com.