7 Defections Leave Cuban Team Short On Soccer Field

TAMPA - It was lonely at Raymond James Stadium.

It was lonely in the stands, with just 1,050 fans in the 65,857 seats. It was lonely on the field, where Cuba's under-23 men's national soccer team had just 10 players to Honduras' 11.

It also was lonely on Cuba's bench, where - thanks to five defections Tuesday and two more Wednesday - there wasn't a single substitute player for the Olympic qualifying event.

The only other Cuban player not on the field Thursday night - Roberto Linares, sidelined by a suspension from a prior game - watched from the close-to-empty club seats with Cuban Soccer Federation President Luis Hernandez by his side. The dour-faced Hernandez wouldn't talk to a Tribune reporter and had a security guard shoo her away.

Cuban Coach Raul Gonzalez made it through just a few questions before stalking out of his post-game news conference.

The question that prompted his quick exit: a query on the whereabouts of Assistant Coach Dagoberto Lara, who was absent - and rumored to be an eighth defector.

The Cuban players, however, didn't keep quiet about the sudden absences that contributed mightily to their 0-2 defeat.

"I think they made a mistake, and we were the ones who had to fix it," said player Armando Coroneaux, 21.

He's sure his seven former teammates watched the game and were touched by the hobbled team's ability to hold Honduras scoreless until 68 minutes into the 90-minute game.

"I think they watched the game and felt emotional," he said. "We wish them well."

Alianni Arguelles put it simply: "They chose their path. We chose ours."

Fans Sad But Understanding

The fans hugging the rail behind Cuba's sparse bench had hoped those divergent paths wouldn't have an effect on the score.

Fans like Maira Olivet, 47, a nursing assistant in a Tampa nursing home who left her native Bayamo, Cuba, a decade ago, knows what it is to be torn between two countries. She's happy in the United States with her daughter and granddaughter, but her parents and siblings are still in Cuba.

"It's sad," Olivet said of the broken-up team. "This group came to play, and now some are not. Each one has to do what's in their heart."

Thirteen-year-old Yenisel Izquierdo has spent half of her life in Guanajuay, Cuba, and half in Tampa.

"I really wanted them to win and everything. They're from where I'm from," Izquierdo said wistfully, in a voice hoarse from yelling for the Cuban team. "I'm a little disappointed, because there's less players now. I wanted them to win."

Some of the former teammates, who headed to South Florida late Tuesday after the team played its first match against the U.S. team, had some wistfulness of their own in their voices Thursday.

In interviews aired on WTVJ-TV in Miami, former goalie Jose Manuel Miranda told of how difficult it was to leave behind some teammates, since they all had played together since they were young. Clearly, though, there was little love lost between Miranda and the Cuban coaches.

"I'm sure it hurt all of us to abandon the team - especially the other players, not so much the coaches - and we know that they're going to put a huge effort because, in their mind, they're there to win the game," Miranda said. "But we know that's going to be difficult. But we know their mindset is to win the game because of their fighting spirit."

Limited Opportunities

The first five players to leave Tuesday night darted out of the Doubletree Hotel on West Cypress Street into a waiting car that whisked them to South Florida. They are expected to seek permanent residency in the United States - as well as pursue their soccer careers.

Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, who left Cuba at age 15, said the defections show the lack of opportunity on the communist island.

"I look forward to the day when Cubans will be able to freely pursue opportunities professionally, and most importantly politically, in their homeland," the Republican said in a statement. "This is yet another sign of the frustration among young Cubans with the unwillingness of the Cuban regime to undertake true democratic reforms."

The other two players disappeared after a practice Wednesday at the University of South Florida.

"I don't hold any grudges," said Leonel Duarte, whose team is scheduled to play Panama on Saturday - again with no substitutes. "I want to tell them that they could have at least waited to help out the team."

News Channel 8 reporter Katie Coronado, Centro Mi Diario reporter Vanessa Vazquez and Tribune reporter Mike Wells contributed to this report. Reporter Karen Branch-Brioso can be reached at (813) 259-7815 or at kbranch-brioso