U.S. national soccer team visits Cuba for first time since 1947

U.S. national soccer team visits Cuba for first time since 1947
U.S. team visits Cuba for first time since 1947
By Ray Sanchez | Havana Bureau
September 6, 2008

Havana - The Italian restaurant at the U.S. national soccer team's hotel
on the seaside Malecon promenade has an old-time baseball theme, adorned
with bats and gloves, assorted caps and catcher's equipment.

But tonight's U.S.-Cuba World Cup qualifier will have Cubans in this
baseball-mad capital cheering for a sport never truly embraced on the
Communist island. The event marks the first trip to Cuba by a U.S.
national team since a 1947 exhibition game lost by the Americans, though
an under-20 team played in Havana during the 1991 Pan American Games.

"I know that baseball is probably the biggest sport here, but we're also
aware this is our first time as a soccer team here in 60 years and it's
obviously a World Cup qualifier," said Sacha Kljestan, 22, an American
midfielder from Southern California. "This is very big for both countries."

No one is sure how many people will show up at the crumbling 80-year-old
Pedro Marero stadium for the game. "I didn't know we had a national
soccer team," said a bellboy at the hotel where the Americans were
staying. "Are you sure?"

State radio and television have publicized the match in recent days. The
Communist Party daily dedicated five paragraphs to it. "I don't think
there's extra pressure but we understand the fact that this game will
bring extra attention," U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. "We really motivate
ourselves ... knowing more people than usual will follow the match."

Bradley said he discussed the political situation between the
neighboring countries "a little bit" with his players. Washington's
decades-old trade embargo means that few Americans can legally travel to
Cuba.

"Obviously, we wouldn't know what to expect seeing that this our first
time in the country," U.S. defender Oguchi Onyewu said. "We're all just
taking it in, trying to enjoy the experience and taking advantage of
every moment."

The U.S. national team is 5-1-1 against Cuba overall. It recently
defeated Guatemala 1-0 in the opener of the semifinals of the North and
Central American and Caribbean region. Cuba lost 3-1 to Trinidad and
Tobago on Aug. 20 before about 1,500 spectators at home.

"To beat the United States is going to be difficult but not impossible,"
Cuba coach Reinhold Fanz told Granma. "We're going to need the support
of all the public."

Cuban soccer, like most sports on the island, has suffered from the
departure of players in recent years. Rey Angel Martinez and Alberto
Delgado were the first, leaving during the 2002 Gold Cup in Los Angeles.

After defections by Maykel Galindo in Seattle in 2005 and two others in
Houston last year, seven players from the under-23 national team walked
away from their hotel in Tampa last spring during the Olympic qualifying
tournament.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-flbsoccer0906sbsep06,0,6564255.story