Sport in Cuba has become a social science as or more difficult to understand that the very theory of relativity, by Albert Einstein. On how to decipher it, promote it and develop it, specifically in football, I had the pleasure of talking with Raul Gonzalez Triana, U-20 national team technical director.
A down to earth guy, kind, talkative, witty, jovial, knowing how much history there is in the Cuban soccer environment, from the alpha to the omega, desperate lover of his profession , forminggenerations, that is Triana, the man who led Cuba for the first time to a U-20 World Cup in its history, the guy who opened, without a second thought, the door of room 409 of the Polat RenaissanceHotel in the wonderful Turkish city of Istanbul.
The interview came easy, I have to admit, and not even the most sensitive of topics conspired against it. Triana did not keep secrets though he demanded, of course, discretion and tact in severalpoints, because “I know how it works,” he said.
There were many topics to tackle. My interests were many, some for some publication, and others for another. Which is the most important of all? The history, the importance, of course. But certainly there were two appointments with history: one very important for sports, the World Cup qualifying, and other political and social -how to turn qualification into a everyday reality, and not a sporadic one as it happened on this occasion.
Then I turned the guns around for the second option. I could not betray myself. I focused the thread to the enigmatic opening phenomenon these days sports are going through in the country, with the insertion of three active Cuban baseball players in professional Mexican League summer, a fact that Triana applaud with both hands and expects it is extended to football.
In Cuba several baseball players were officially allowed to play in the Mexican Professional League How do you rate this measure and what significance might have on the future of the Cuban soccer?
If it is true, provided it doesn’t go against the principles of the Revolution, I believe that this openness will be important for us in football. In Cuba there are many quality players and it would be nice and fruitful if the young generation could be inserted in leagues abroad, he said, though, to ease the tension, I should impressed him that it was true, that it is real the presence of Michel Enriquez, Alfredo Despaigne and Yordanis Samon in Mexico, authorized by the Cuban government.
How specifically this would influence the Cuban soccer players?
First of all this openness will enable them to win in daily experience, that today they do not have. They will play with many different players from other countries, will develop knowledge of football and mindset, even their personality would strengthen.
The personalities of the players will change for the better, I think that our players have problems with personality, have great attitude, are very brave, but they have many limitations and gaps to address the games.
Could this opening catapult Cuban soccer?
Right now we have a good generation to reach the World Cup. If we know how to use it, maintain and above all develop it, and also prevent players from stagnating, it seems likely that Cuba will soon come to a major World Cup.
This is the same generation that Mexico, United States and El Salvador will have in a few years. Why would they be developed and we not? Simple, the answer is simple; they are all year playing in high level football leagues or friendlies with good selections. If we do the same we would grow much.
Do you consider logical that several Cuban players want to get to Barcelona, Real Madrid or Manchester United?
That is normal worldwide.
Cuba in a soccer World Cup … What were your impressions?
Yes, it’s unbelievable, really. Being here is awesome. A World Championship is the ultimate, is something worth praising, it is what every technician and every player aspires to. Cuba has taken a major step by qualifying to this Turkish Cup for the first time we came to a tournament of this magnitude in this category.
What was the goal of the selection in this tournament?
We knew it was difficult to advance to the second round, but went anyway and we set ourselves the ambitious goal of reaching the second round, but ultimately we could not fulfill it due to the enormous complexity of the tournament.
It was a unique experience, very important, for me as a coach, for my coaching staff and all the players. Our football needed to reach a World Cup, in any category, to lead the way and to start dreaming of qualifying to a major World Cup.
Anything positive?
Yes, of course, most things, we lost all three games but fought and won a lot of experience.
Everybody saw the match against South Korea, quite balanced, but the referee decided to call a penalty and changed the course of the game. If it was criminal or not is another thing, I’m not one to qualify the referee, but if I can say it changed the face of the game, they went up and we lowered the morale, at the end we couldn’t stand and we lost 1-2.
Anything Negative?
Against Nigeria the thing was different. The Nigerians were much better since the start of the game; they play football which is far ahead of ours. And Portugal was worse, but they were not there just to win Group B, the Portuguese were to win the World Cup.
I am convinced that the Cuban team could offer a bit more; the championship was a little too big for us. We force the players to get to the limit, but this is the real roof of our football.
What immediate needs Cuban football has towards sustainable development?
Cuba needs to immediately raise the level of their international friendlies, come to Europe to do training bases as we did in the Spanish city of Malaga before the World Cup. Give continuity to these preparations will be fruitful.
We must look beyond the Concacaf. The level in this region is very low, we have seen here (Turkey, 2013) that our teams are the weakest area from anywhere you look, in terms of organization, in terms of quality of the players or the tactical operation.
If we want to experience a significant increase in level you have to get out of Cuba, playing more in the area against the powerful ones, Mexico, USA and Costa Rica, to come to Europe and play against teams from here. It would be important if we turn the rudder of the ship and come over to Europe.
Do you really think that Cuba has a real chance of qualifying to a major World Cup?
The first thing to accomplish is to maintain a solid group of 30 to 35 young players so that they can move to another cycle. Continuity is essential not only of labor but also from the standpoint of preparation and competition.
I repeat, we have now a very good generation, you just have to develop a planned to prevent players to stagnate, as often happens to us, not only in football.
Would you dare to point a year to reach an absolute World Cup?
In 2018 or 2022, you just have to make things right, to motivate the players. The rest comes alone.
