Surprise and a good one for all Cuban soccer fans was the title won by our national team in the Caribbean Cup by defeating Trinidad and Tobago in the final 1-0. Marcel Hernandez, in the 22 nd minute of extra time, was who scored the goal that sealed this historic result in a match that showed a 0-0 draw after the 90 minutes.
Winning was what Cubans needed in these events because they had previously lost the finals three times in the versions of 1996, 1999 and 2005. As well as crowning the champion of the Caribbean, the tournament, held in Antigua and Barbuda, also served as a qualifying for the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2013, to be held in several U.S cities.
The other teams that will be in the CONCACAF Gold Cup are Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti and Martinique.
It is true this wasn´t a high level tournament but it left a good taste for Cubans who had 4 wins in a row after being defeated on their debut.
Winning this Cup helps in a way to improve Cuban soccer´s image in a year of pain and sadness as in this year´s main competition, which was the World Cup Qualifiers for Brazil 2014, the national squad was a complete fiasco without winning a game in six presentations and where they just scored one goal, and in the last game.
An applause for these guys because we are certainly talking about soccer instead of baseball. Today with the development achieved by the sport of big crowds in the world, soccer I mean, the soccer landscape is increasingly complex. Therefore this result serves as motivation and as a sign that Cuban soccer can win in upcoming competitions.
Author
Reynier Batista Morales
