The Cuban national football team defeated Bonaire 2\u20130 in the CONCACAF Nations League\u2014a match where the scoreline did not fully reflect the number of chances created, as the team exploited every area of \u200b\u200bthe pitch, neutralized the opponent\u2019s midfield, and constantly troubled their defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yasnier Matos\u2019s goal in the fourth minute hinted at a massive rout\u2014one that ultimately didn\u2019t materialize simply because the Leones del Caribe<\/em> grew overconfident and squandered chance after chance in front of the opposing goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A momentary lapse by the Cuban defense\u2014a mere footnote\u2014and a double save by goalkeeper Ismel Morgado were the only defensive concessions made; once again, they kept a clean sheet, a testament to the team\u2019s discipline and composure on the pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This superiority is best illustrated by the nearly 600 passes\u2014double their opponent\u2019s tally\u2014completed with 90% accuracy; by their dominance of possession, controlling the ball for nearly 70% of the match; and by a staggering 26 shots compared to just seven from the Bonaire side\u2014a figure that also serves as a wake-up call for the forward line, which was hardly clinical in its finishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diego Catasus\u2019s goal early in the second half felt like only partial justice, yet it raised hopes that the anticipated rout might still happen. Admittedly, the referee failed to whistle for at least two clear fouls inside the box\u2014penalties that likely would have padded the scoreline\u2014though this calls for an analysis of the team\u2019s poor aim rather than complaints about officiating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the back, calm and order prevailed, largely thanks to the excellent, stifling defensive work of Yunior Yuri P\u00e9rez; he was commanding, pragmatic, and secure in his tackles, precise and clean in playing the ball out, and powerful and tireless in his movement. He was always there when the situation demanded it, without fail. In any case, it was a well-deserved\u2014and arguably comfortable\u2014victory that showcased a Cuban team capable of delighting the handful of compatriots who turned out to watch at the NBG Technical Center in Saint Kitts and Nevis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The win allowed them to retain the top spot in Group C of the competition\u2019s League B; although the hosts also have 6 points and five goals scored, they have conceded one, placing them a spot lower in the standings based on the tie-breaking criteria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Cuban national football team defeated Bonaire 2–0 in the CONCACAF Nations League—a match where the scoreline did not fully reflect the number of chances created, as the team exploited… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13421,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":"{\"authors\":[42],\"author_categories\":{\"42\":\"1\"},\"fallback_author_user\":\"1\",\"ppma_author_box_select\":\"\",\"selected_authors\":[{\"id\":42,\"display_name\":\"Radio Habana Cuba\",\"is_guest\":1,\"category_id\":\"1\"}]}"},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[42],"class_list":["post-13420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"authors":[{"term_id":42,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"radio-habana-cuba","display_name":"Radio Habana Cuba","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13422,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13420\/revisions\/13422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13420"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=13420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}