Five Cuban soccer players defect in U.S.: report

MIAMI (Reuters) - Five members of the Cuban Under-23 national soccer team have defected in the United States while visiting the country for an Olympic qualifier, local media said on Wednesday.

A report on the Web site of the Miami Herald newspaper said the players abandoned their team after a match against the United States near Tampa Bay, Florida, on Tuesday night. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Team captain Yenier Bermudez, goalkeeper Jose Manuel Miranda, defender Erlys Garcia Baro, midfielder Yordany Alvarez and defender Loanni Prieto hatched the plan back in Cuba but told no one. Not even their families knew of their intent to defect, the Miami Herald said.

It said they spent Wednesday in Lake Worth, a town near Palm Beach about an hour's drive north of Miami, while trying to figure out how to begin a new life away from their communist-ruled homeland.

In a telephone interview with the Herald on Wednesday night, Bermudez was quoted as saying he and his teammates were feeling hopeful.

"We knew when we got to the United States what our plan was. It's something the five of us talked about a lot, so we were ready when the time came," he said.

"Of course, we're nervous because we're young, have no family here, and we don't yet know the way of life here, but we hope the Cuban and American communities will help us get started," Bermudez added.

The Herald said the five planned to seek political asylum in the coming days, and then begin their quest for jobs in professional soccer.

"Of course, my heart will be in Cuba with my family, but I want to have the freedom to better my life, to play professional soccer, to be the best I can be, and for that we had to make this sacrifice," Bermudez was quoted as saying.

(Reporting by Tom Brown; Editing by Patricia Zengerle)