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Sunday, October 12, 2008

2 Cuban soccer defectors ready for a new start in U.S.

Posted on Sunday, 10.12.08

IMMIGRATION
2 Cuban soccer defectors ready for a new start in U.S.
Two Cuban soccer players defected this week while playing in Washington,
D.C. One has ended up in Orlando with his family.
BY MICHELLE KAUFMAN
mkaufman@MiamiHerald.com

WASHINGTON -- Pedro Faife's name was on the Cuban roster for Saturday
night's World Cup qualifier against the United States, but the
24-year-old midfielder was nowhere near RFK Stadium.

He slipped away from the team's hotel at 2 p.m. Friday afternoon with a
maternal aunt and cousins, who drove him 750 miles to their Orlando
home. He spent Saturday celebrating his newfound freedom shopping for
shoes, clothes and toiletries.

Faife was one of two players to defect from the Cuban national team
since its arrival in the nation's capital, and one of 15 Cuban soccer
players to defect while in the United States since 2002.

Forward Reynier Alcantara, 26, disappeared from the Doubletree Crystal
City hotel Thursday night and is believed to be with his wife's U.S.
relatives.

Faife said he was not ready to make any comments yet, but his aunt said
he is surrounded by loved ones and ready to begin this new stage of his
life.

''It's been a very emotional 24 hours,'' said Faife's aunt, who did not
want her name used for fear of consequences to her relatives in Cuba.
``Pedro is an only child. His father is ill, and this was a very tough
decision for him. He also has a wife and a 2-year-old son. I didn't even
know he planned to stay. We had driven up to Washington to see him and
to take him a care package to take back to Cuba. He surprised us with
the news.''

She had visited Cuba in June and saw him then, but she said they never
discussed the possibility of him defecting.

''As far as we knew, he was just coming to play and we made plans to go
watch him play,'' she said. ``Of course, he is a little bit nervous
because this is a big decision for such a young man, but we assured him
everything will be OK.''

Faife, who is from Villa Clara, had played 46 games for the Cuban
national team and played particularly well against the U.S. when the
teams played in Havana last month. He hopes to play professionally once
he gets his immigration status and working papers in order. He has
already been in contact with two former Cuban defectors -- Maykel
Galindo, who is from Faife's hometown and plays for Chivas USA of Major
League Soccer, and Lester More, who plays for the Charleston Battery of
United Soccer Leagues.

CUBA'S CRITICISM

The Cuban media was highly critical of the two players, calling them
traitors, according to German press agency reports.

''Cuban footballers Reynier Alcantara and Pedro Faife betrayed the unity
of their select team and gave in to the temptations of the empire's
money, and for that reason abandoned the national team,'' said a Cuban
TV newscast. 'As always, the team will go out to defend the colors of
the national flag, rising above the traitors' mud.''

Cuban forward Leonel Duarte was asked by reporters before the trip about
the possibility of defections.

''All of us who go there are revolutionaries and believe in the Cuban
revolution,'' he said. ``It may be that people will approach us and try
to bribe us, blackmail us, place extra pressure on us, but we're going
there only to play football.''

MASS DEFECTION

The last time a Cuban soccer team played on U.S. soil was in March of
this year in Tampa, and seven players from the Cuban Olympic qualifying
team bolted from their team hotel and defected. Two of those players are
playing in the Puerto Rican pro league and the rest are awaiting work
permits.

Galindo, who defected in Seattle during the 2005 Gold Cup, has had the
most success of the recent Cuban arrivals. Four of the defectors --
More, Alberto Delgado, Rey Martinez and Osvaldo Alonso -- found work in
the USL. Alonso was named USL Rookie of the Year Saturday.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/722745.html

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