The New York Cosmos will use a break in their soccer season to make history in a few months.
The Cosmos will play an exhibition game against Cuba’s national team on June 2 in Havana, the New York Times reported Sunday.
The Cosmos will bring American professional sports back to Cuba after a 16-year absence. The Cosmos-Cuba game also will mark the first time a team from the United States has played on the island nation since the U.S. government announced in December 2014 that the countries would restore diplomatic relations.
The Cosmos, who play in the North American Soccer League (American second division), are a re-booted version of the former NASL powerhouse, which included legendary players Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Neeskens. They’ll visit Cuba during the break between the new NASL’s spring and fall seasons.
Cuba’s national team will use the Cosmos game as a warm-up to the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which is the regional championship tournament for North and Central America and the Caribbean.
American teams rarely have played in Cuba since the United States government imposed an economic embargo in 1960. Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles were the last U.S.-based professional team to play in Cuba, beating the national team 3-2 in a 1999 exhibition game.
The Times expects the Cosmos-Cuba game to be formally announced in the coming days.
Thumbail photo via Twitter/@NYC_1971
