GOLD CUP SOCCER
2 Cuban players are said to have defected
Sources say they abandoned their team before match at Reliant
By BERNARDO FALLAS and TRACEY EATON
Two players apparently defected from the Cuban national soccer team
before Wednesday's Gold Cup match against Honduras at Reliant Stadium.
Forward Lester More went missing at the team's last stop in East
Rutherford, N.J., and midfielder Osvaldo Alonso did not return from a
group shopping trip in Houston. Their whereabouts were unknown late
Wednesday night.
"We know what you know," said a Cuba team trainer, who declined to give
his name. "We don't know anything more. These two players left. They did
not come back."
"No one here is keeping them from leaving," he said in a brief interview
at the team hotel. "If they leave, that's their business. We don't know
where they are now. We don't know who's helping them. We don't know if
they're coming back."
During a news conference after the game, won by Honduras 5-0, Cuban
coach Raul Gonzalez was asked several times about the possible defections.
"I am a man of soccer. I don't discuss politics, so I'm not going to
answer that question."
Pressed further, Gonzalez said, "The ones that are not here are not here
because they choose not to be."
Asked if he were missing a key player (meaning More), he replied, "I was
missing two key players tonight. One because of cards (a
disqualification) and one because ... he's simply no longer on the team."
He added, cryptically, "They went for the gold. I hope they don't end up
with thorns. The ones who take another road take it because they want to
take it."
Asked once again if he meant that some players had defected, Gonzalez
walked out of the auditorium, mumbling, "That's not my problem."
Questioned briefly after the news conference, Gonzalez would say only:
"It's morally wrong to leave your country."
For Wednesday's match, the team suited up only 17 players on its
original 20-man roster. Besides More and Alonso, forward Pedro Minoso
was scratched because he received yellow cards in each of the previous
two games.
In a statement, the sponsoring Confederation of North, Central American
and Caribbean Association Football distanced itself from the situation,
saying, "This is not a matter that involves CONCACAF."
The law, precedents
U.S. law usually protects Cuban nationals who request political asylum
while on U.S. soil.
Sports defections are not new. Cuban athletes — most notably baseball
players, including pitchers Jose Ariel Contreras and brothers Livan and
Orlando Hernandez — have defected from the communist country while in
international competitions outside Cuba.
During a 2005 Gold Cup tournament, Cuban forward Maykel Galindo defected
in Seattle. After a stint in the lower-tier United Soccer Leagues,
Galindo signed with Major League Soccer club Chivas USA this season.
In Washington, D.C., the U.S. State Department had no information about
any defection from the Cuban team, said a spokesman who referred
questions to the Department of Homeland Security.
A spokesman there said Wednesday night the agency could not confirm or
deny a defection.
No one answered the phone at night at the Cuban Interests Section in
Washington, an office that handles travel requests to Cuba and other
matters for the island country. Cuba has no formal diplomatic relations
with the United States and therefore has no embassy here.
Chronicle reporters Joseph Duarte and Patty Reinert contributed to this
report.
bernardo.fallas@chron.com
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