Winning Cuba advance
Ian Prescott (Express)Friday, October 12th 2007
VICTORY TO CUBA: Cuba's Roberto Balmaseda, right, a teammate and a Grenada player climb in the air for a cross-ball during yesterday's Olympic qualifying clash at the Marvin Lee Stadium, in Macoya. Cuba won 2-1 to advance to the next stage of qualifying.CUBA advanced to the CONCACAF final round of qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games Football Tournament when they scored a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Grenada, at the Marvin Lee Stadium, in Macoya, last night.
Grenada gave Cuba more of a fight than anticipated, holding the favourites 1-1 at the halfway stage.
Roberto Balmaseda gave Cuba a predictable lead in the 15th minute of the match but, when Grenada were expected to fold tamely, they found an equaliser in the 24th minute, Lyndon Antoine stroking the ball past goal-keeper Jose Miranda.
After several missed chances in the second half, Cuba eventually restored their lead in the 67th minute when Balmaseda slipped in a corner kick.
Grenada's Shane Rennie was given a gift of a chance to equalise in the 75th minute but put the ball over the bar with just the Cuban keeper to beat.
The series continues tomorrow at the Marvin Lee Stadium, where Trinidad and Tobago face Grenada at five p.m. However, the match is of academic interest since the Cubans, 3-0 winners against T&T on Tuesday, have already advanced to the next stage of the Olympic qualifying competition. -Ian Prescott
