• Submitted by: admin
• Sports
• 03 / 22 / 2007

The Cuban soccer team heads for Venezuela on Thursday where it will play a game on Saturday against the national squad in the Andean city of Merida.

The 20 players making up the islands team were announced Wednesday at the Pedro Marrero Stadium in the Cuban capital.

The match with the Venezuelans will be Cubas first tune-up for the June 6-24 Gold Cup in the United States, while the hosts are preparing for the Copa America which takes place in July.

Venezuela, like Cuba, is a country where baseball is the national sport, but it has also achieved important international results with its soccer in different age categories and teams. Local experts believe their teams play in the Copa America will increase the sports popularity in Venezuela.

The exhibition game will take place at the Guillermo Soto Stadium, one of the venues of the Copa America, at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.

The Cuban team is made up of goalies Odelin Molina and Dany Quintero. Defenders include the captain Yenier Marquez, Yenier Bermudez, Silvio Pedro Minoso, Hensy Munoz, Yusvani Caballero; Midfielders: Adonis Ramos, Jaine Colome, Pedro A. Faife, Alain Cervantes, Osvaldo Alonso, Gisbel Morales, Joel Colome and Lazaro Alfonso and Forwards: Reynier Alcantara, Lester More, Leonel Duarte, Yosvani Ayala and Ariel Martinez.

Since the match is on the International Football Federation calendar, the Venezuelans are permitted to use their countrys players from leagues in Spain, Chile, South Africa and Morocco, Bulgaria, Norway, Spain and Cyprus.

Source: By Miguel Hernandez, Granma