The Nicaraguan First League is one of the only four national soccer competitions that are still active throughout the planet, besides Belarus, Burundi and Tajikistan, despite the pandemic of the new coronavirus.
Managua.- However, in this Central American nation, matches have been held behind closed doors since the first case of COVID-19 was detected in mid-March, while other preventive measures were taken to avoid any possible contagion.
In the midst of the atypical situation in which it develops, the Nicaraguan championship has a special meaning for Cuba, since the center-back Sandro Cutiño is a member of the Managua Fútbol Club, the first and only representative of the Caribbean island who has come to this tournament.
Prensa Latina was interested in the talented player's history and visited the Nicaraguan National Stadium, located in this capital, where his club plays matches at home.
The first question for Cutiño was, precisely, about the risk of keeping active a sport of as much contact as soccer before the threat of a highly contagious disease.
"It is no less true that it can be a risk, but we agreed (to continue playing) and until now we have taken all the measures and thanks to God no footballer has got sick," said Cutiño.
The slim, nearly two-meter-tall, the 25-year-old defender had caught the attention of the Blue Lions coach, Emilio Aburto, when he debuted with the Cuba team in the two friendly matches played in this capital last November.
"I came here by my means, as we say in good Cuban, then the two federations (Cuba and Nicaragua) coordinated and I agreed with the contract made through the National Institute of Sports, Recreation and Physical Education (INDER)," he revealed.
"We saw him play with the Cuban team here when they tied and won a game a few months ago, we were impressed by his game, his height, his strength, he has quite strong tactical thinking," said the coach.
For Sandro, who in Cuba played first with his native Las Tunas and then with Sancti Spíritus, adapting to other football in his first foreign incursion has been a challenge.
Among the reasons that differentiate the Nicaraguan League from the Cuban one, he explained that "here the game is a little faster, there is a higher quality of the playing fields and they are not the same tactical approaches."
However, both his coach and his teammates have made him feel like one of the family that for them constitutes the club of Nicaragua’s capital, one of the best in the country.
This was said by goalkeeper Erling Méndez, one of the most veterans of the feline squad when he defined Sandro as "a hard-working, humble boy with good expectations. We always tell him to keep going, he has a great future," he said.
Cutiño is part of the group of five foreigners who belong to the franchise, of which the Brazilian Christiano Fernandes is the captain.
"We have good communication and since he arrived we tried to make him adapt as quickly as possible to the group, in addition to being an excellent player he is also an excellent person," he assured.
Sandro is becoming more consolidated every day as an essential asset for the success of the team. Beyond the individual results, his participation in this contest represents another opened door for Cuban soccer in the complicated management of inserting its best players abroad.
Cutiño is sure that all his teammates in the Cuban team could be playing abroad, "not so much on the first level as Europe, but as a way to improve ourselves, like I have had the opportunity to be here," he acknowledged.
But the obstacles and controversies surrounding the hiring of Cuban soccer players abroad, as well as the call for the selection of those who are not under the umbrella of the Cuban Football Association, is a topic that has been well debated for a long time in the Island.
So far, Cutiño is among that privileged group that can show their talent in other latitudes and, at the same time, continue wearing the colors of Cuba in international events.
His tour of the largest nation in Central America is just beginning and everything points to it being an adventure from which both, Sandro and Cuban football, can draw huge dividends for the future.
