DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Richard Sterling scored Costa Rica's second goal of the tournament but Italy overwhelmed the Ticos 3-1 on Wednesday and sent them home from the Beach Soccer World Cup with a third straight loss.

Costa Rica was joined by CONCACAF champion Honduras, which was beaten 7-2 by Japan and also returned home with a third loss.

Sterling equalized at 8:41 of the first period after Simone Feudi put Ialy ahead a little more than a minute earlier. Pasquale Corotenuto restored Italy's lead by converting a penalty with 2:08 remaining in the first and Paolo Palmacci added an insurance goal with a minute and a half to play.

The result finished Italy in second place in Group C and sent it to the quarterfinals while Costa Rica completed its stay in Dubai having been outscored 14-2.

El Salvador, which jumped ahead in its first two games before allowing its opponents to rally, fell behind early and was overwhelmed the Asian champion.

Japan scored four times in the first eight minutes and cruised past los Catrachos, who already had been eliminated from quarterfinal contention before the match. Second-period goals by Masakiyo Maezono, his second of the game, and another by Hiofumi Oda extended the lead to 6-0 before El Salvador's Tomas Hernandez scored his third goal of the tournament with 2:25 remaining in the period.

After Japan restored the six-goal advantage, Walter Torres scored his second of the tournament with five seconds remaining to complete the scoring.