List of Cuban football players who have defected to the United States

Since 1999, 55 Cuban football players have defected to the United States in an attempt to further their professional career or improve their standard of living.

A Cuban soccer player running with a soccer ball at his feet.
Osvaldo Alonso defected from Cuba in 2007 to pursue a professional football career.

Under the old wet feet, dry feet policy in the United States, any Cuban player who set foot in the United States was entitled to become a US resident. Maykel Galindo, one of the earlier defectors told of the incentives to leave Cuba: "They leave Cuba because they want to make something out of their lives. They are in search of the dream of playing football at a professional level and they know that Cuba will not offer them that. They do it because they feel that their family will be proud of them if they make it to the professional level and many of those players have realized that they can achieve that goal. Thankfully, in my case, doors were being opened to me."[1] The wet feet, dry feet policy ended in January 2017.

As a general rule, Cuban players who defect are not allowed to rejoin the Cuba national team for international matches. Players who defect are generally ineligible to play for the United States team, as FIFA eligibility rules only allow a player to play for one national team during his career.

Year

1999

Rodney Valdes defected to the United States during the 1999 Pan-American Games football tournament in Winnipeg, Canada.

  • Rodney Valdes[2][3] (goalkeeper) - Cuban U23 international

2002

Rey Ángel Martínez and Alberto Delgado defected during the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup. They told Cuba national football team minders that they were going to make a phone call in the hotel lobby but ran out of the hotel and traveled in a taxi to Martinez's uncle.

2005

Cuban international forward Maykel Galindo sought to stay in the United States after he had arrived in the country with the Cuba national team for the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

2007

Inspired by Galindo, two players defected at the following Gold Cup, two years later.

2008

Several Cuban youth players defected in 2008 following an Olympic qualifier hosted in the United States.

2010

Two players defected during a 2010 World Cup qualifier.

2011

Yosniel Mesa defected during the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup

2012

Yosmel de Armas defected in 2012 during Cuba's qualifying campaign for the 2012 Olympics.

Prior to a World Cup qualifying game against Canada in Toronto, four players and the team's psychologist Ignacio Abreu Sánchez defected to the United States.[12] Cuba were not able to name any substitutes due to the defections.[13]

Two players defected during the 2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament which was hosted in Vancouver, Canada.

2015

Four players defected during the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[14]

Another six defected during the 2015 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship:

One player defected during a personal visit:

One player defected having visited Mexico:

2018

Twelve players defected following the 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship which was hosted in Bradenton, Florida.[20]

  • Arturo Hector Godoy
  • Bruno Manuel Rendon Cardoso
  • Christopher Yoel Llorente Fernandez
  • Danny Echeverria Diaz
  • Frank Leidam Nodarse Chavez
  • Geobel Pérez
  • Josue Vega Alvarez
  • Juan Manuel Andreus Milanes
  • Omar Perez Ramirez
  • Omar Proenza Calderon
  • Rivaldo Ibarra Thompson
  • Rolando Aldahir Oviendo Valdez
  • Yandri Romero Clark

Two players defected during the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship which was hosted in Edinburg, Texas.

  • Francis Riquelme (forward, aged 20)

2019

Four players defected during the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The following player defected after the match against Mexico

The following players defected after the match against Martinique

2023

Five players defected during the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The following players defected after the first group stage match against Guatemala:

The following player defected after the last group stage match against Canada:

See also

References
  1. "Background story: Cuba missing player crisis". tropigol.com. 26 March 2003. Archived from the original on 6 May 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  2. "Cuba critical of Pan Am organizers" (PDF). Laredo Morning Times. 3 August 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  3. Wilner, Barry (2 August 1999). "Cuban Defects at Pan Am Games". CubaNet.org. Archived from the original on 2 December 2005. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  4. "Cuban defectors a first for MLS". Miami Herald. 14 June 2004. Archived from the original on 14 June 2006. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  5. "Cuban soccer stars Pedro Faife and Reynier Alcantara defect to America". nydailynews.com. 11 October 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  6. "'Special edge' for Cuban defector Alonso". USAToday.com. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  7. "Charleston Battery signs Cuban striker Lester Moré". oursportscentral.com. 7 March 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  8. "Five Cuban Soccer Players Defect in Florida, Miami Herald Says". Bloomberg. 13 March 2008.
  9. "Cuban soccer officials stunned by desertions of up to 7 players". Ny Daily news. 13 March 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  10. "Cuba defender Yosmel De Armas is believed to be attempting to defect to the United States". Yahoo Sports. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  11. "Laredo Heat roster (2013)". USLsoccer.com. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  12. "Desertaron en Canadá cuatro futbolistas del equipo cubano" (in Spanish). Clarin.com. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  13. "Canada vs Cuba match report". FIFA.com. 12 October 2012. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  14. "Gold Cup: Striker Ariel Martinez becomes the fourth player to defect from Cuba". MLSsoccer.com. 18 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  15. "Keilen García desertó de la selección de Cuba". futbol.univision.com. 8 July 2015. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  16. "Deserta otro jugador cubano en Chicago" (in Spanish). Univision (Miami). 10 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  17. "2 Cuban players believed to have defected before match at BofA stadium Dario Suarez and Arichel Hernandez were both no-shows before match". Charlotte Observer. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  18. "Gold Cup: Striker Ariel Martinez becomes the fourth player to defect from Cuba". 18 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  19. "United States beat Canada in CONCACAF Olympic qualifying". ESPN. 1 October 2015.
  20. "Doce futbolistas del equipo Cuba sub-20 se quedan en Estados Unidos". CiberCuba (in Spanish). 12 November 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  21. "Deportes El futbolista Yasmani López escapó luego de jugar contra México en la Copa Oro". Periódico Cubano (in Spanish). 17 June 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  22. Online, La Razón (21 June 2019). "Tres cubanos más desertan de su selección en la Copa Oro" (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  23. "Cuatro futbolistas de la selección de Cuba escaparon tras el primer partido de la Copa Oro en Miami". Infobae (in Spanish). 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  24. "Reportes: Cuatro futbolistas abandonaron la concentración de Cuba en Miami durante la Copa Oro". ESPN Deportes (in Spanish). 2023-06-28. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  25. "Cinque giocatori cubani hanno abbandonato la Nazionale durante la Gold Cup, e ora sono irreperibili". Rivista Undici (in Italian). 2023-07-07. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  26. "Sandy Sánchez, portero de Cuba y Pantoja, desertó después de Copa Oro". ESPN Deportes (in Spanish). 2023-07-05. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
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