Cuba national soccer team defectors surface with Battery

Cuba national soccer team defectors surface with Battery
Posted: Mar 29, 2013 12:35 AM RST Updated: Mar 29, 2013 5:11 AM RST
By Mark Davenport

DANIEL ISLAND, SC (WCSC) - Soccer is a game of speed, patience and quick
decision making. It's those same skills that also allowed three Cuban
national soccer team players to make a daring escape from a 2012 World
Cup qualifying match in Canada, eventually surfacing in Charleston to
play for the Battery.

"It all started playing on Cuban national team," said Heviel Cordoves,
through a translator. "We went to Toronto to play the Canadian national
team."

Cordoves, Maikel Chang-Rameriz and Odisnel Cooper had been planning a
month prior to the match.

Always in secret, never aloud, the goal was to escape to the United
States just before their World Cup Qualifier in October.

"We were really nervous at first getting out of the hotel," said
Chang-Rameriz. "That was the biggest part because we saw the coaching
staff and any little chance we got when they looked away, we were gone."

The trio got their chance during a lunch break. When the coaches turned
away the three took off running.

"The risk is really big in Cuba if you get caught trying to escape,"
said Cordoves. "I would be taken off national team and pretty much be
put in jail."

Understanding the risk, Chang-Rameriz says they ran through the streets
of Toronto until they met a random man on the sidewalk who let them use
his cell phone and gave them money for a cab.

Cordoves says after a few days the found themselves at the border, feet
away from American soil.

Under the 'Wet foot, dry foot policy,' set in place during the Clinton
Administration, any Cuban who steps on U.S. soil has the right to become
a resident.

The policy is one they were all familiar with.

The trio marveled at the defection of Battery legend and now top MLS
midfielder Osvaldo Alonso in 2008 under similar circumstances.

Now it was their turn.

After the trio crossed the border they made their way to Jacksonville,
Florida by bus then they scored a tryout in Charleston with the Battery.

"It was nervous at first coming in with the team and trying out," says
Chang.

The tryout was all the three men needed. Battery Head Coach Michael
Anhaeuser says he knew from the minute they stepped on the pitch they
would play for the squad.

"Everything went great from the soccer side," said Anhaeuser. "There was
the issue with communication but they did a great job."

All three players have work permits and are making progress in getting
their U.S. citizenship.

The goal for all the defectors is the top tier of what soccer can offer,
a spot on an Major League team or a contract overseas in Europe.

Cooper left his wife behind in Cuba, but says she will be able to make
the trip to be with him as soon as he becomes a citizen.

Chang-Rameriz and Cordoves are both sending money home to their families
and girlfriends, trying to help them as make as possible from Charleston.

What they make in the U.S. is much different than what they made in
their home country. Cordoves says the average salary for a Cuban
footballer is roughly eight dollars a month.

The forward says after their recent defection, the count is up to 25
players of the Cuban national team to have escaped to the U.S.

"It's a dream come true," said Cordoves. Cooper and Chang-Ramierz agree.

The Charleston Battery kick off their home schedule on April 20 versus
Antigua Barracuda FC.

http://www.live5news.com/story/21823377/trio-of-cuban-national-soccer-defectors-surface-in-charleston