By Dr. David Kilpatrick

“A cosmopolitan outlook is predicated on respect for the local, and that is not a matter of citizenship or location. These are surely the dispositions and attitudes that a global cosmopolitan culture requires in profusion. Making these notions the common sense of the global order is an inconceivably hard task, but that we might achieve a fragment of this from our engagement with football is our good fortune.”

– David Goldblatt, The Game of Our Lives, p. xi.

THE FLIGHT TO CUBA | Sunday, May 31, 2015

We gathered at an obscure, remote private terminal at JFK, the nervous excitement palpable as we got our hands on visas and boarding passes.  The first team arrived straight from their flight from Minneapolis, everyone buzzing about Raúl’s last-minute rescue of a point, preserving the unbeaten run in league play nine games into the 10-game spring sprint.  Despite unfinished business, the Apertura  title not yet clinched, confidence in and among these “Cardiac Cosmos” enhanced the sense of having something special to show fútbol fans in Cuba.  This team knows how to perform under pressure.  But the sociopolitical context of this historic trip brought a unique sense of responsibility among everyone gathered, ready to board; not only the players but also among the staff, media and fans assembled for the adventure.

On the tarmac around 5:30 p.m. ET, everyone was handed a gift bag with commemorative t-shirts and hats as we boarded the Miami Air jet to ensure everyone could represent in Cosmos green.  Word had spread that the Cosmos’ Honorary President, Pelé, would join us on the plane.

Club executives at the front, the team in the middle, and in the back third staff, fans and media gave a soccer metaphor to the seating formation, but the fact that there were no first class and coach divisions seemed appropriate given where we were headed. It set the tone for a trip that quickly saw class distinctions crumble as a sense of community evolved. 

Fresh from Minneapolis and on our way to Havana #CosmosInCuba pic.twitter.com/pDY6C0DlfQ

— New York Cosmos (@NYCosmos) May 31, 2015

As we settled into our flight pattern a festive mood emerged, the aisle packed with people mingling from one area of the plane to another.  Pelé was able to catch a nap amid the airborne party but the rest of us were too new to such missions on behalf of the Beautiful Game to sit still, much less rest. I sat thinking of how this trip reflected the journeys of Cosmos past.  When we touched ground in Cuba, cheers and applause signaled our message: the New York Cosmos had arrived.

A WARM WELCOME

Video: @Pele, Gio and the team stepping off the plane in Havana last night. #CosmosInCuba pic.twitter.com/TbZiz4f9wG

— New York Cosmos (@NYCosmos) June 1, 2015

A hero’s welcome greeted us at Terminal 5 of José Martí International Airport around 10 p.m. The team, led by Pelé, exited from the front of the plane while staff, family, friends and media left out the back. This allowed for a remarkable spectacle in what one cameraman called the “juicy” night air.  Pelé was swarmed, as always, as was Raúl.

I must have been the first through customs and was greeted by a phalanx of fans and media upon exit from the terminal.  Alone for what seemed like an hour, I wanted to go back inside the terminal to see what I might be missing and enjoy the greeting all over again.  After a while the youthful, smiling face of Rigoberto Mir, a guide from the Cuban travel company Havanatur, greeted me and showed me the way to the buses that would take us to our hotel. 

At last members of the media began to emerge, then other staff and fans. A roar rose out when Pelé came through, and he showed himself used to such spectacles as well as caring, taking time to ensure everyone could take a photo of him, if not pose with him or shake his hand personally, before departing in a private car.  When the team came through, shouts of Raúl were as loud as those for Pelé, the numerous Real Madrid shirts in the waiting crowd of Cubans making it clear the Cosmos star had a large fan base on this purportedly baseball-obsessed island country.  The hints that young Cuba has fallen for fútbol were confirmed, and we’d just gotten off the plane. 

Everyone, not just Raúl and Pelé, received the hero’s welcome leaving the terminal, heading into the heat of the Havana night to board the buses bound for our hotel.  With all present and accounted for, the buses pulled out of the airport to head into the city.  Another, elder guide, Elias Valro Casanova, quickly demonstrated his deep knowledge and charm as he narrated along the way. 

As our bus approached the Plaza de la Revolución, the familiar face of Che Guevara gazed up at the towering Memorial José Martí.  What people make such a monument to a poet?

“Martí is the key to understanding Cuba, to understanding all Cubans, regardless of ideology,” Elias told us, “not Che and not Fidel.  In fact, Fidel was a Martían,” he punned, even if we didn’t really get the jest. 

Over the next few days I would learn how true this is. For Cuba the words and ideas of Martí prove to be the prophetic provocation towards a progressive culture, offering inspiration and hope that a better future awaits a proud but impoverished people wrestling with history.

At last we arrived at our home base, the posh, contemporary high-rise Melia Cohiba, in the Vedado district by the sea.  The players headed to their rooms to get some rest, the media went to work, but most of the rest of us opted for the hotel bar beside the lobby, the meeting place throughout our stay.  We settled in for fun and conversation well into the wee hours.

EXPLORATION AND EDUCATION | Monday, June 1, 2015

The sunrise revealed the gorgeous location of our hotel, the panoramic view from my room taking in both the sea and the city.  Once again Elias was the guide on our bus, and he narrated our way as we drove east along the Malecón promenade beside the shore wall.  We were quickly struck by the sight of a dilapidated soccer stadium with a rusted, netless goal at one end. 

Several sites along the road highlighted the historic connections between our two estranged nations.  The 138 flagpoles of the Mount or Wall of Flags at the José Martí Anti-Imperialist Platform in the Plaza de la Dignidad were evidence of the propaganda battles waged until recently, as was a statue of José Martí holding Elián González.  But a monument to the USS Maine, including cannons salvaged from its 1898 sinking and a listing of all who lost their lives with the ship, was a powerful reminder of an event that once focused our country on the Cuban cause. 

The sight of fishermen casting lines perched on the seawall allowed one to cast locals as Hemingway’s characters Santiago and Manolin, bringing The Old Man and the Sea to life before our eyes.  Glancing left to the Florida Strait and glancing south at the cityscape left room for imagination somewhere between, as the anachronistic blend of histories overlapping seemed to intrude upon the present.  In town while the Havana Bienniel attracted the art world’s attention, ours was caught by the many sculptures stationed along the Malecón, like Rachel Valdes’ blue cube on the promenade.  An installation of an ice hockey rink by New York’s own Duke Riley on the south side of the Malecón offered juxtaposition in the bold morning heat and a reminder that our own beloved Rangers had just been eliminated from Stanley Cup play. 

The Malecón reaches its northeastern tip at the entrance to the Havana Bay across the water from the Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro.  The imposing fortress was built between 1589 and 1630 to protect the Spanish colonial outpost from pirates and foreign invaders.  Following the shape of the shore southeast from sea to bay, the Malecón becomes the Avenue Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, across the bay from Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña, before the road heads directly south as San Pedro.  Sort of like taking the Hudson Parkway, then West Side Highway and rounding Manhattan and heading north up the FDR, but here in Havana in reverse clockwise direction. 

Our first destination, Museo del Ron, gave us an overview of the process of making rum, along with insight into the labor and natural resources exploited in its manufacture that helped make this archipelago roughly the size of Tennessee a prized colonial outpost of the Spanish Empire until 1898. 

As much fun as we were having, simultaneously a sense of despair deepened as awareness grew from learning about Cuban culture and the history that’s shaped the country and its people.  Who would expect such learning from a rum factory? Slavery, the shame we cannot shed in both our nations has left prominent scars in Cuba, lingering destitution a powerful reminder of man’s inhumanity to man.  As we learned about how rum is made, we were reminded of the countless lives lost in the slave trade as the ancestors of so many contemporary Cubans were sold and settled on this beautiful island in what was once a New World. 

While we indulged in samples of rum, we were nonetheless aware this trip was no mere vacation – more a lesson as well as a mission, as the Beautiful Game had brought us to this beautiful but scarred place, each and every one of us traveling down from New York – players, coaches, staff, fans and media – engaged in a people-to-people diplomacy, seeking engagement with our estranged siblings of the Americas.

Leaving the Museo del Ron, we strolled through Habana Vieja, the gorgeously preserved old city, winding our way through its colorful streets like walking back in time, an historic stroll the perfect activity for us to learn about Havana during our historic sporting visit.  The peach façade of Hotel Ambos Mundos, Hemingway’s "first home" in Havana greeted us at the corner of Calle Obispo and Mercaderes.  We were walking in Hemingway’s footsteps.  The rhythms of street musicians put salsa in those steps. 

Everywhere we turned, the interconnectedness of our two countries’ histories was unmistakable.  We were there to help bring us back together for a better future.  The smiles, handshakes and hugs from our hosts at every turn showed us a welcome as warm as the weather.  Everyone wanted to talk about the “gran partido mañana” and asked if Raúl and Pelé were with us – the anticipation of the upcoming match with the Cuban National Team building everywhere as all Havana awoke knowing the Cosmos had arrived. 

From the Plaza de San Francisco de Asis we reached the vendors and stalls of the Plaza Vieja, many were drawn to purchase revolutionary mementoes ranging from hats and books to posters and pins. Bryan Alcantara of the Cosmos Training and Development Program and I became disconnected from the group, but locals were eager to guide us through the neighborhood labyrinth to reunite with our fellow travelers at Plaza de Catedral. 

Built between 1748 and 1777, Havana Cathedral housed the remains of Christopher Columbus until Spain removed them when Cuba won its independence in 1898.  The magnificence of the Baroque cathedral’s exterior was matched by the splendor of its interior, renovated from 1946 to 1949, featuring a blend of artistic styles with its numerous paintings, frescoes and sculptures that range from Baroque to neoclassical. 

We gathered for lunch nearby at the La Moneda Cubana, most of us outdoors on a rooftop balcony but covered as a heavy rain fell.  The ever-eloquent Fernando Fiore led us in a toast to the Cosmos and Cuba. Fiore made an appeal or polite provocation, encouraging and challenging us all to learn the Spanish language to better understand the people of Cuba and their culture.  There were many opportunities to meet our Cuban hosts, but if we could speak their language our engagement would be so much more meaningful.  With several Spanish speakers in our touring party, translators were always on hand, but others with intermediate knowledge or just the most basic of phrases began to learn more, delicious food and beverage facilitating the conversation flow.  Right on cue after dessert, the rain subsided and we left the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Old Havana, boarding our bus with a profound sense of the city’s rich cultural heritage.

The bus took us through Centro Habana, with a brief stop at a government-operated cigar and rum shop.  In this neighborhood we witnessed the extreme poverty endured by the people of Havana, a sharp contrast from the carefully preserved majesty of Habana Vieja.  The Revolution had allowed tenants to own their apartments but not the buildings themselves.  Chipped paint on doorless, windowless buildings told a story we were quickly learning to read.

One of the initial striking images from the morning, the site of the abandoned soccer stadium beside the sea on the Malecón had sustained interest from several in our touring party, and some decided to navigate the streets of Centro Habana to find it once more.  Passing through El Barrio Chino, those of us who returned to the bus found ourselves suddenly beside the empty stadium.  Before turning left and west to the hotel, five of us were let off the bus and gleefully ran over to the stadium, taking photos and wishing we had a ball to play.

From left: Edouard Darres, a Cosmos season ticket holder originally from Toulouse, France, club statistician Ryan Lovejoy, Bryan Alcantara of Cosmos TDP, club historian Dr. David Kilpatrick and Gregory Blanco, cousin of Cosmos Director of Operations Sofia Sanchez Parkes (Photo/Edouard Darres)

YOUTH CLINIC AT THE SPORT UNIVERSITY

We went straight from our stroll to a bus taking us to the Universidad de Ciencias de la Cultura Física y el Deporte.  We were just in time to join Cosmos players, coaches and staff, with Lawrence and Rob Cann, the President and COO, respectively, of Street Soccer USA.  Nearly sixty youth players were waiting for a 4 p.m. clinic. The campus soccer pitch – a mostly dirt and stick-strewn space with a goal missing a back-bracket bar, slightly better than the one that enamored us back on Malecón.  This was the condition all the facilities we saw at the national sport university’s campus; a clear indicator of the tough odds facing Cuban athletes as they prepare for international competition.

As Lawrence Cann took the lead role, explaining the mission of social change at the heart of Street Soccer USA with fluent Spanish to the assembled youth players, it was clear they got the message, raised as they are with revolutionary rhetoric while suffering poverty themselves, trying to defeat demography by excelling at sport.  But Cann explained Street Soccer USA doesn’t just aim to produce elite athletes, but to change peoples’ lives for the better, the Cuban children listening attentively before getting to the fun of the soccer activities.  Having the chance to learn from the Cosmos was clearly a thrill for the kids, and it was clear that this was why we were here: to play soccer. 

Assistant coaches Alecko Eskandarian and Carlos Llamosa, fitness coach Luis Gutierrez, goalkeepers Kyle Zobeck and Brian Holt and midfielders Walter Restrepo, Jimmy Mulligan and David Diosa joined in the action, offering instruction, cooperation and competition.  Despite the scorching heat after a long day of training and acclimation, it was clear they were having just as much fun as the young Cubans. 

Several NASL officials were on hand to witness the exchange. Commissioner Bill Peterson noted how remarkable it was to see professional players from the United States kicking a ball around on a Cuban field with local kids.  The world is changing in ways we never could have imagined and we were witnessing how the global game can serve as a catalytic agent.  The joy was infectious.  The experience, transformative.

The Cuban kids showing their impressive skills also served to remind the Cosmos players and coaches that the next day, they would face a side representing this emerging soccer nation; the youth talent on display made it clear Cubans love their fútbol and know how to play the game.  

While the clinic went on we unloaded boxes of Cosmos and NASL balls, one for each youth player in attendance.  As the clinic came to an end, Cosmos players posed with Cuban youth players and the Street Soccer USA staff for photos, exchanging high fives, hugs and smiles.  We had to race back to the hotel for the international press conference, set to start at 6 p.m. sharp, but after a day of learning about Cuba’s culture and history we were inspired, having witnessed the power of soccer to overcome barriers, promote peace and bring joy.

In the next installment of Club Historian Dr. David Kilpatrick’s tour diary from Cuba: the press conference, a festive night in Havana, and a trip to the Plaza de la Revolución to learn more about Cuba’s national poet José Martí and his links to New York before the historic match to face Leones del Caribe at Estadio Pedro Marrero.