Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Havana, Dec 24. - The soccer family in Cuba will remember 2024 as the year of qualifications for two World Cups: futsal and those under 20 years old.
After missing two universal futsal events, the project for that discipline included, among other things, a renewal of the squad that a priori left some doubts.
And the change showed that it not only guaranteed a future, but also contributed to the long-awaited access to the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Uzbekistan 2024, in which the Island faced the champion Brazil and the strong teams of Thailand and Croatia.
The other good news came from the U-20 team that reached the semifinals of the category's championship in Concacaf and for the second time in history took one of the tickets to the World Cup to be held in Chile.
The senior team played in the Nations League in its highest category for the second consecutive year, but could not hold on to it after facing a complex schedule.
Despite only losing once in the entire event, it was one place behind Trinidad and Tobago, precisely its victimizer, and returned to the B level of a competition governed by a complex system in which it followed an unequal path to that of their opponents.
This forced them to a play-off against Saint Kitts and Nevis to remain in the game for qualification for the 2025 Gold Cup. And they solved it with the shock of an unexpected defeat as visitors and the relief of a resounding win at home.
This gave them the possibility of a rematch against Trinidad and Tobago, next March, in search of qualifying for the main event of the next season, along with the World Cup qualifiers, in which they recorded a defeat against Honduras and a victory against the Cayman Islands.
In the context of the difficult energy situation that the country is experiencing, the national championships could not be held due to fuel limitations for transportation.
However, the continuity of the players who contribute to the elite selections continued to find support in the hiring policy derived from the approved strategy for the development of that discipline in Cuba.
In accordance with this, up to 13 players from the U-20 team were inserted in the Costa Rican League and the entire futsal world team in the Nicaraguan League. In addition, the presence in Guatemala was reinforced and futsal was reached in Argentina, bringing the number of athletes hired under the auspices of the island's federation to 40.
The presence of women in those same leagues was also enhanced and the different national teams of that sector were concentrated, which had training in the form of friendlies against Nicaragua and Belize.
In addition, the team participated in the U-17 Women's Uncaf Tournament, preparatory for the World Cup qualifiers that begin in January in the Dominican Republic.
The technical improvement continued as part of a cooperation project with the Italian federation and the number of four coaches with a Uefa A license was reached.
An agreement was also signed with the Mexican federation that also includes technological exchange and arbitration matters.
For 2025, progress is expected in terms of infrastructure, for which the year that ends was vital, since several projects for the recovery and reconstruction of stadiums began in this year. (Text and Photo: Cubasí)
