only appearance in an Olympic hockey tournament was 1980 in Moscow, where Cuba finished 5th behind India, Spain, Russia, and Poland

has never before participated in a World Cup, but did participate in a World Cup Qualifier in Poland 1993

qualified by winning the 1st Pan American  Cup in 2000 in Havana, ahead of favorites Argentina and Canada

has not played any international matches in nearly two years, namely since winning the Pan American  Cup. The big question is how important this lack of experience will be how quickly the Cuban players will have learnt and adapted.

Coach Guillermo Stakeman identified Cuba’s goal for the World Cup as finishing “among the first ten countries out of the 16 participating nations”. Columnist Rafael Pérez Valdés of Diario Granma points out that it is vital for Cuba to “leave a good impression” in order to give other teams an incentive to come to Cuba, allowing the Cuban team to gain international experience and pursue their ultimate goal – winning the 2003 Pan American Games hockey tournament, thus qualifying for the Olympic Games for the first time.

The Game

physical, powerful and fast, possibly now more so than ever before as Cuba has put great emphasis on physical fitness in its preparations

most goals scored by Cuba are from the team’s polished and perfected penalty corners (at the Pan American Games, 8 out of 12 goals scored were from penalty corners)

goal scoring is normally entrusted to lethal attack trio Heriberto Sarduy, Yoandi Blanco, and José M. Rodríguez. With Sarduy – nicknamed “el hombre gol” (the goal man), having occupied the top scorer spot of the National Championships every year since 1998 – not part of the World Cup squad, the question is how the other two cope.

The Team

contains nine players from the team that finished third in the 1999 Pan American  Games

Players to Watch

Yoandi Blanco was top scorer at the Pan American Cup and constitutes one third of Cuba’s legendary attack trio (alongside Heriberto Sarduy and José M. Rodríguez). The trio also regularly make up the top three in the list of top scorers of the Cuban National Championship, in 2001 with Sarduy ahead of Blanco and Rodríguez.

Juan C. Benavides is Cuba’s most experienced player with his 54 caps. At the Winnipeg Pan American Games he was Cuba’s runner-up scorer with 4 goals (out of 12 scored by Cuba in total).

Recent International Matches

Feb. 22, 2002, Kuala Lumpur: Cuba vs. Argentina 2-4

no international matches between July 2, 2000 and February 2002

July 2, 2000, Havana (1st Pan American Cup): Cuba vs. Canada 2-1

June 30, 2000, Havana (1st Pan American Cup): Cuba vs. Chile 8-0

June 28, 2000, Havana (1st Pan American Cup): Cuba vs. Puerto Rico 10-0

June 27, 2000, Havana (1st Pan American Cup): Cuba vs. Venezuela 10-0

June 25, 2000, Havana (1st Pan American Cup): Cuba vs. Barbados 14-0

June 24, 2000, Havana (1st Pan American Cup): Cuba vs. Peru 14-0

June 22, 2000, Havana (1st Pan American Cup): Cuba vs. Argentina 3-1

Quotes

 South Korean Manager Jeong Jae–hong: “We have no information on their strength or their current form. They are coming as the Pan American champions and we will certainly not take them for granted.” (The Star of Malaysia)

 Coach Guillermo Stakeman: “We consider Australia and South Korea as the top two of the group. The rest of us are more or less at the same level. ... Our plans are to try to defeat Malaysia, who will be host, Poland, India, Japan, and England.” (Diario Granma)