Despite my oversight in the open thread post, the US takes on Cuba in a World Cup Qualifier this evening in Washington, D.C. tonight. The US managed only a 1-0 defeat in Cuba last month. This time they may fair a bit better because two Cuban players have gone missing as is the custom when Cuban sports teams come to the US.
Cuban coach Reinhold Fanz acknowledge that two players have gone missing."It is always a problem for the Cuba team," Fanz said. "We have security, but you can't handcuff them to their rooms."
Great, he just gave Fidel an idea.
Meanwhile, Cuban officials deny that two players are missing.Officials at the Cuban Interests Section, the country's de facto embassy in Washington, would not comment on the incident. But Cuban Soccer Federation President Luis Hernandez contradicted Fanz's account, saying the two players hadn't traveled to the United States and were still in Cuba.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, he means nothing. We only travel with 16 players.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Will they play a 4-4-0?
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Imperialist Swine Inept Against Representatives for Workers Paradise
Or something like that. But according to Cuba, the USMNT were failures in their World Cup qualifier against the island nation and only Mother Nature could even muster a threat to the team. Of course according to Cuba it's also 2007.
The pic above is a screenshot in case Pravda The Cuban News Agency gets hip to what year we're in. Or maybe in their version of history, there is a Year Zero, so it really is 2007. Hey, close enough for government work.
At least you know not to trust state run propaganda.
The game started with Cuba attacking and a nervous US team didn’t seem to find its way of playing. The first actions were on Cuba’s behalf when at the second minute Carlos Francisco hit a ball coming from a corner kick over the goal. Cuba didn’t seem to be worried and was playing in an easy and confident way.
Anyway, conspicuously absent from the article is the final score. Obviously, Cuba is not threatened by losses.
Ike Threatens Cuba [www.cubanews.ain.cu] Read more on "Imperialist Swine Inept Against Representatives for Workers Paradise"...
Friday, March 14, 2008
U-23 Olympic Qualifying Roundup
The current round of CONCACAF qualification was rocked on the very first day when a very unfancied Cuba squad drew the USA 1-1. That night, five Cuban players were presumed to defect to the USA when they walked out of their hotel. Combined with the red card in that first match, Cuba was facing going into their second match against Honduras with only 12 available players. Just when they thought it could not get any worse, two more players disappeared, leaving the squad with 10 players. What is a team to do? They could quit, but we will leave that to Gretna. No, the Cubans lined up with 10 men and salvaged themselves some pride.
Inside we'll take a quick look at qualifying so far.
Well, playing with 10 men did not work magic for Cuba. Honduras handled their shorthanded foes, defeating Cuba 2-0 behind second half goals by Sanchez and Thomas. Honduras outshot Cuba 25-3. After watching the Cuba-USA game and knowing that shot count was only 19-9, I can only imagine how lopsided this game was.
In the other Group A match, the USA did better, squeaking past a spirited Panama squad in a match that sometimes degenerated into a pushing and shoving match. Adu scored a penalty late in the first half after Altidore had rounded the keeper on a one on one and drew the contact. Panama pressed for an equalizer in the second half, looking especially bright in the first 15 minutes, but never really threatened Chris Seitz's net.
Honduras has already qualified, and Panama is eliminated.
Group A Standings (W-D-L; Pts; GD)
Honduras 2-0-0; 6; +3
USA 1-1-0; 4; +1
Cuba 0-1-1; 1; -2
Panama 0-0-2; 0; -2
In Group B, only the first matches have been played. Guatemala dispatched Haiti 1-0 on a 27th minute goal from Avila. Mexico had a USA-style slip up in their first match, drawing Canada 1-1. Canada scored in the third minute form Johnson, while Mexico knotted up from the penalty spot through Landin in the 22nd. Neither team was especially proficient in front of net, as both sides only had 2 attempts on goal.
Group B Standings (W-D-L; Pts; GD0
Guatemala 1-0-0; 3; +1
Mexico 0-1-0; 1; 0
Canada 0-1-0; 1; 0
Haiti 0-0-1; 0; -1
Group B resumes today with Canada playing Haiti and Mexico tussling with Guatemala. The group finishes on Sunday. Group A finishes on Saturday. USA will play Honduras, while Cuba takes on Panama. The top two teams of each group will advance to the semifinals in Nashville on March 20. The winner of those two matches will go to the Olympics, and the CONCACAF champion will be decided in Nashville on March 23.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Speaking of Cuba's U-23 team
...several of them have gone missing. A couple of hours after the 1-1 draw with the US in Tampa, five players -- goalie Jose Manuel Miranda, captain Yenier Bermudez, Erlys Garcia Baro, Yordany Alvarez and Loanni Prieto -- left the team hotel and haven't been since.
Are they trying to defect, or were they merely hoping to complete a quick tour of Sea World and Universal Studios?
It's hardly surprising that some would defect once they travel across to the US with the team, as it's happened before in football and other sports. Shit, as Ives Galarcep points out, one of the defectors during the Gold Cup, Lester More, just signed a deal with the Charleston Battery this past week. Miranda will certainly find a home somewhere in the MLS, should he eventually resurface elsewhere in the country. As for the others, I have no idea. I don't know who any of them are, or whether they're any good. I do know that their recent resume addition of a 1-1 draw with the US should get them at least a tryout or two. Fan's Attic got it right in our email thread, "if you can't beat 'em, at least you can get them to defect."
The disappearances are bad news for the Cuban squad, who are now left with just 13 players on the squad for their next match. Of course, Roberto Linares was sent off last night, leaving only 12 that could participate in the Honduras game on Thursday afternoon.
USA U-23 Embarrassment
Just a couple of quick thoughts on last night's Olympic qualifier against Cuba.
The USA should have put it out of reach in the first 15 minutes. By the time Adu scored, it should have been 3-0.
Has no one installed drainage at Raymond James? It looked like the game would have been better fit for bog soccer at times.
When you have a one on one with the keeper and five yards on the defenders, don't hit a one time shot off of your shin. Take your time and finish. There's always a chance you'll get bundled over.
Dax McCarty, stay on your damn feet (and get a haircut). Same to you Charlie Davies. Until Americans learn to dive properly, it's just embarrassing.
Those were two pretty weak yellows to Lines. One for a goal celebration, and the other (and ultimately a red card) for kicking away after the whistle.
Just because Arsenal play a nice brand of football with the passing and whatnot, don't emulate their inability to get a shot off.
Jose Manuel Miranda had a pretty nice game in goal for the Cubans. I hope he continues to stymie the other teams. I fear that he will not.
If you had told me that the US would get any less that 7 points in this pool, I would have laughed. Now I think I'll take 5 and advancement, although that could lead to a semifinal date with Mexico, who knocked the US out at that stage last time.
Here is the tables after one round: (Record, Points, Goals For-Against)
Let's all hate on Heerenveen for not releasing Bradley.
Next game: Friday against Panama.
image courtesy AOL Fanhouse
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Someone Really Will Work For Food
Could I change but one letter, this might be one of the better headlines ever: "Germany's Fanz to coach Cuba free of charge"
Still, phonetically, it's pretty awesome: German fans are going to call the shots in Cuba, and the Cubans aren't even going to charge them for the privilege. Awesome.
Eh, maybe not.
Instead, Reinhold Fanz, coach of German club Bonner SC (oh, again, just one letter and this would be so much more amusing) will manage the Cuban national side in exchange for only his living and travel expenses.
For those not in the know, Bonner SC is not in the Bundesliga. It's not even in the sequel, Bundesliga II: Electric Bugaloo. Bonner has subsisted in tier III and IV for most of its existence (1965). It even made a brief visit to Verbandsliga Mittlerhein (V) in 2000-01.
Nicht kann Deutsch, but I'm thinking Verbandsliga translates as "very bad liga."
Anyway, Bonner has put that sordid mess behind them and lifted themselves back to Oberliga Nordrhein (IV). Yipee.
One of three things is probably true here:
A) There's not much upward mobility for coaches stuck in the 4th divsion of German football.
B) Cuba really is a socialist workers paradise, or
C) Fanz truly does love his job so much, he's willing to do it for free (Suckers, Bonner!).
I suppose those options are not mutually exclusive, but anyone who has actually been to Cuba can assure you that B is not the case. That said, if Fanz has any kind of nest egg built up from his playing and coaching days in the mutterland, he is going to live better than you and I can ever imagine.
Cuba is swimming with drop-dead model-quality gorgeous women, who will happily give themselves up to you for the price of dinner and a few drinks. It sounds a bit sordid, but A) it's not a straight cash transaction and B) how is that any different from what happens in the US of A? Or how is it different other than the fact that it runs pennies on the dollar?
It could be a self-defeating proposition though. The appeal of a foreigner to a Cuban woman is that he represents a means off the island. Fanz isn't going anywhere, but his reward is that he gets to coach the 71st FIFA-ranked team in the world. And he'll get nothing (and like it apparently) for his efforts.
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