Cubans arrive with WWF on their minds

20/02/2002

THE Cubans arrived yesterday and finally shed some light on their team's
preparations for the 2002 Kuala Lumpur World Cup.
And if they had shocked the hockey world by qualifying for their first
World Cup, yesterday, they shocked a team of journalists when they said
that they have not played a single match since beating Canada and
Argentina to top the Pan-American World Cup Qualifiers in the year 2000.
All that they have been doing for the past two years is physical
training, and the well toned muscles on the tanned men from the Caribbean
were on prominent display as they stepped into the corridors of the
official hotel, the Concorde Kuala Lumpur.
"We have not played a single match since we qualified for the World Cup.
But we are not worried and since the players are physically fit, we have a
good chance of finishing 10th in the 10th World Cup," said Cuban coach
Juan M. Rios.
Cuba are in the same group as Malaysia and the much-anticipated match
between the two teams will be on March 4. When asked if they know anything
about the Malaysian team, the coach said he has never seen them play - but
Malaysian coach Paul Lissek is a good friend of his.
"We could not arrange for any matches because hockey is not a very
popular sport in Cuba. We are ranked far behind volleyball and boxing as
far as grants from the government are concerned so we could only do
physical training to prepare for the World Cup," said Juan.
There is only one artificial pitch in Cuba, layed three years ago, but
surprisingly, according to the coach, they have 11,000 active hockey
players in all age-groups.
When asked about their playing style: "We play neither the South
American nor the European style. We have our own system which is centred
on fitness."
Malaysia, who have had 50 matches prior to the World Cup, should not
have any problems collecting three points aginst the ill-prepared Cubans.
But the Havana cigar merchants have promised one thing - they are going to
run their opponents breathless in the 70 minutes of play.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
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