Maybe his hands do not have the charm or the exquisiteness that Raul Diago, but also in the World League nights in Havana they used to draw huge and precise parables with the ball from the subtle tips of his long fingers up the rocky palms of the hitters.
Raidel Hierrezuelo is not a lofty setter, those who swing in the air with style to put a ball end to end on the court, back, no angle on the contrary, the lefty is dedicated to building without extravagance, to put the balls easier to sacrifice style for that of his recipients for when his passes are unable to be sent to ground otherwise, have the power needed to take the law into his own hands.
He has a second touch that is evil, atrocious, with the power of a crusader. All setters of the world throw the soft Mikasa looking for some remote place, Hierrezuelo no, he attacks, represses the ball against the Mondoflex and then stir his jersey, soaked with sweat that hits the chest, and then screams. He shouts because it is one of the leading athletes in the last glorious Cuban men’s volleyball team.
To learn firsthand on his whereabouts today, OnCuba has talked with former setter of the national team:
What does Raidel Hierrezuelo do today?
At the moment nothing, I haven’t been able to train again, I haven’t had the chance. Right now I’m at home with my son who was just born recently; he is just two month old.
We must go back to 2010 to find you last international match, tell me a little of that last image in court.
In the last tournament in which I participated with the national team was in the Volleyball World Cup Japan 2011. Back then I were no longer the main player, had given my position on the court, I was suffering from an injury in one of my knees, I could not play every day. I could only participate in two or three games and the rest of my participation was left to give encouragement from the bench.
You miss the Mondoflex?
A lot; that is my life. But above all the Coliseo, play in Sports City is spectacular, to have that many people behind you supporting you and screaming for your country is something that is unmatched. People do not know that there are few places in the world where many people gather to see volleyball, thank god we have one of the best venues.
The national team has a new coach, after a few years Orlando Samuels has left the reins to Rodolfo Sanchez. Could you comment on that?
Samuels led the team for more than one Olympic cycle, every so often it’s good to change, modify things within the team to avoid stagnation. People on the street think that the main reason for the replacement of Samuels as coach of Cuba is because most of the players of my generation have gone abroad. He is not guilty of that, he is a coach as any. Samuels is not as controversial as it is thought, on the contrary, he is very good, he is listed as one of the three best DT in the world, is an excellent coach, a fussy director who likes that strategies go perfectly.
What were the main reasons why you decided to separate yourself from the team?
The bottom line is the poor attention athletes receive here. No recognition of achievements, there is not any gratification; successes remain on the successes, and all this conditions that athletes are no longer motivated. As a matter of logic our team deserves more attention, but that logic that seems so obvious works backwards.
Then one is accumulating and accumulating, until the day you explode because you cannot take it anymore. Believe me this is the reason why most volleyball players have left the country, but we were still jumping and attacking at the Coliseo.
How do you assess the current state of Cuba volleyball?
What I can say is that if we continue like this we will not know if there will be volleyball in the future at all. What we are experiencing is not the reality of the Cuban volleyball; we have always been at the top of the world. If they ever really confirm finally that the Cuban players who are in foreign leagues can return, they can count on me without any problems.
We have to do things without remorse, without rancor, without fear of the past, start fresh, forget about those who spoke ill of those who stayed, everything. If we again have a team we have to forget the mistakes of both sides, all that has happened. If we do all that I have no doubt that Cuba immediately returns to the world elite.
A few weeks ago the web site of Radio Havana Cuba published a note reporting that sports executives have held talks with a number of players to try to bring them back to the national team. In that list your name was included: Is this true?
Yes, all true. I was called at home for me go to the National Volleyball School for an interview. The National Committee raised the idea that they wanted to Fernando Hernandez, another player who I cannot remember the name and I come back to the team. They say that our presence can lift all the qualitative level, but that’s not as well as they think.
Volleyball has changed a lot, before with two or three players you could win tournaments, now if you aspire to something must have six quality starters; only three quality athletes do nothing. So I say we should forget the past, erase it, if we really want to put together a decent team must let the Cubans who are abroad to play for Cuba, they would not have harmed anyone, on the contrary, have given prestige to the country abroad.
Ariel Sainz, National Commissioner stated that “they were studying the possibility that the Cuban players who were performing in foreign leagues and their defections had not affected the performance of the team could return.” What do you think about that?
If this is how they plan to fix the problem, I tell you, it will be more of the same. The team will be identical to how it is today, with players from the category of cadets who have no experience. The problem is that all the players that have left the national team have affected the performance and the results of all in some way. So who are they going to bring back?
Have you not decided to play in a foreign league by choice or there is a lack of any concrete deals?
I have had several offers from abroad, but when you ask to leave the national team in Cuba they penalize you for two years and in that time stay you can’t play in any league in the world. My last tournament was in 2011, so in November this year ends my disqualification; I do not know why the Cuban Federation handed me this term until March 2014. I wait for that time in the house every day, do exercise and to try not to lose shape.
How do you see the new changes that have occurred in the country’s sports policy?
No doubt it will bring many benefits to the sport in Cuba, especially because the athletes will be able to raise their level playing in other leagues and the ceiling of each sport will rise. The idea is excellent, even if a little late, they tarried too long to make this decision.
If you were given the opportunity to put together a sextet for the next World Volleyball League, with whom would you feel more comfortable as a setter?
In the position of auxiliary hitters would be Osmany Juantorena, Oreol Camejo and Yoandy Leal as a substitute. My opposite would be Wilfredo Leon, the central Roberlandy Simon and Osmani Camejo, the libero Keiber Gutiérrez and Gilberto Herrera as DT.
