Cuba's Debut in Gold Cup Stained With Irregularities

As Cuba debuted in the Gold Cup on Thursday with a heavy but unsurprising 6-0 defeat at the hands of Mexico, a series of inconsistencies and irregularities were pointed out by analysts as the probable cause of the island's poor performance.

The squad has been forced to face its rivals in the CONCACAF tournament with only 16 players – two of them goal keepers – given that six of its players were not allowed into the United States, where the tournament is taking place.

One of the players defected before the game against Mexico. The team's coach, Raul Gonzalez, and their main doctor were not allowed in the country over visa issues, leaving the Cuban team in disarray and under-equipped.

During Thursday's game, Assistant Coach Walter Benitez had to take over the team in a match against the tournament's favorite, Mexico. Cuba, better known for its talents in baseball, is participating in its eighth Gold Cup tournament. Mexico easily dominated the match, maintaining 76 percent possession, and Oribe Peralta scoring a hat trick. For their part, Mexico is playing without superstar Javier Hernandez, better known as Chicharito, after he was sidelined with a collarbone injury during a friendly match with Honduras before the start of the Gold Cup tournament.
 

Toronto 2015 Water polo

The Cuban women's water polo squad lost to the U.S. in its debut of the 17th Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, in a group A match.

According to the official website of the event, Cuba was beaten by the Americans 18-3 (1-4, 0-4, 1-6 and 1-4).

The most outstanding U. S. players were Margaret Steffens and Mackenzie Fischer, who both scored three goals.

The Caribbean goalscorers were Adriana Garlobo, Dayana Morales and Mayelín Bernal.

Cuba will face Argentina on Friday, which beat Mexico on Thursday by a score of 10 to 8. The Cuban team have to defeat the Mexican team on Saturday if they want to reach the semifinals.

TO2015 and Cirque du Soleil To Give Audiences A Night to Remember

The Opening Ceremony of the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games will take place Friday night in the Canadian city. The ceremony was created by Canada’s globally celebrated cultural icon Le Cirque du Soleil, the Official Creative Partner of the Opening Ceremony.

The exclusive one-night-only performance will captivate a sold-out live audience of 45,000, in addition to the live broadcast that will be watched by hundreds of millions of TV viewers around the world. The 2 ½ hour production begins at 8 p.m. EST in downtown Toronto’s favorite domed stadium, known at Games time as the Pan Am Ceremonies Venue.

With an international cast of 625 performers, representing 25 nationalities, the show will feature the special blend of stagecraft, thrilling acrobatics and colorful cultural pageantry of Le Cirque du Soleil, as well as dance, and extreme sport. The production will celebrate the significant contributions of Canada, from its First Nations people, growth as a nation, rich diversity and contemporary culture.

The creative process began in November of 2013 with the design team collaborating on concepts and ideas that were slowly transformed into reality through the distinctive expertise of the creative and technical areas who were up for the mammoth challenge. Spectators can also expect a spectacular fireworks from CN Tower plaza.

Victory Celebrations

People and fans can join world-class athletes at the nightly Victory Celebrations at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto.

The Victory Celebrations honor medal-winning athletes across a broad spectrum of sports after their official medal presentations have taken place at the competition venues.

The Victory Celebrations present the pageantry of an official ceremony with the energy of an outdoor party to kick off the night’s headline entertainment. Cheer for the athletes of the day as they take the stage to greet fans and receive official gifts from VIP presenters. Inspiring video recaps of the day’s competitions and a salute to the moments of victory in all of our lives will round out this special event.

Pan Am

Cuba has competed at every edition of the Pan Am Games since Buenos Aires 1951.

At the host of Havana 1991, the Caribbean country won 265 medals – including 140 gold medals – the most ever won by Cuba at a single Games.

Cuba has accumulated 1,929 Games medals and is currently ranked second on the all-time Pan Am medals list, behind only the United States of America.

At Guadalajara 2011, Cuba won a total of 136 medals with strong performances in athletics, obtaining 33 medals, and wrestling, grabbing14 medals.