Cuban baseball player Frederich Cepeda, captain of the team that has just said goodbye to the Americas Pre-Olympic Tournament, confessed that when playing in Florida he felt as if he were playing in Cuba.
In statements to journalist Yasel Porto of 'Swing Completo', minutes before returning to Cuba, Cepeda confessed the emotion he experienced in the second game when the fans in the stadium began to ask him to go out onto the field.
"It felt like we were in Cuba, because Florida really has many Cubans and many Latinos and in the first game I participated with Venezuela, there was tremendous emotion just like the second game with Canada, when people started shouting my name and They gave me the opportunity to leave," he said.
"I felt very happy with that, because it really shows that they have followed your career, that they have seen what you have done and that they have a lot of appreciation for you," he added, in an interview held at the Miami airport.
The experienced athlete downplayed the situations outside the game that occurred every time there was a Cuban team match (fans with signs against the dictatorship who yelled at the players to stay in the United States), and stressed that the psychological pressure the team felt was due to other reasons.
"It may have been the anxiety to achieve the result. The Latin American with 55 thousand people is more overwhelming than what happened here, nothing happens. This is baseball and these are things that happen. What happens externally off the field to us worries. There were situations, but they are normal and we were prepared for that," he stressed.
At 41 years old and with more than 20 years of experience, Cepeda indicated that he does not plan to retire.
"I am going to continue playing and preparing, and I do not consider that it was bad, because I felt good since the preparation. The decisions are made by the management and I do my part inside and outside of Cuba. Until the health allow me, I will continue playing and contributing, with the people who will applaud me and those who will be against me," he concluded.
The statements of the stellar left fielder contrast with those of the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel, who assured that the Cuban baseball players in Florida were harassed "by a handful of mercenaries".
"When writing the history of these challenging days, a chapter must be dedicated to the manliness of the Cuba team. Harassed in a vile way by a handful of mercenaries, our players have put their dignity at the highest level. They have made the shamelessness of the team more visible. adversary," the president said on his Twitter account.
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