Cuba loses its way against the Netherlands, no Simón, no paradise.

Without the leadership of the injured Robertlandy Simón on the court, Cuba was far from its best version this Thursday and suffered a costly defeat against the Netherlands (1-3) for its aspirations of sealing the Olympic qualification in the 2024 Men's Volleyball Nations League.

After a first week of competition worthy of all kinds of praise, the team led by coach Jesús Cruz lost Simón, their most renowned player, due to back issues. The results could not have been worse: two consecutive losses, erratic gameplay, and the goodbye to valuable points in the world rankings.

In the match against the Dutch in Ottawa, Canada, the Caribbean team lost with scores of 26-24, 21-2, 25-20, and 25-22. The result, of course, brought disastrous consequences and jeopardizes their presence in the multi-sport event of Paris 2024.

After the rapid update of the world list by the International Federation of the discipline, the largest of the Antilles lost 9.66 points, displays 242.53, and dropped to eleventh place, behind Serbia (ninth, 247.59), the closest rival in the race towards the French capital.

Once again, Nimir Abdel-Aziz proved to be a perennial headache and scored an impressive 38 points to lead the winners' offense, while Maarten Van Garderen supported him with 15 positive actions. Meanwhile, Cuba relied on Marlon Yant (16) and Michael Sánchez (15).

Awaiting a new medical assessment on Simón's condition, clearly necessary to stop the bad moment, the island's team must concentrate its forces and show a different side against Italy (Friday) and France (Saturday) to preserve the chances of returning to the program of the five rings.

Up to this moment, Brazil, Germany, France -the host and reigning champion-, Japan, the United States, Poland, and Canada have secured spots for the Olympic tournament, scheduled from July 26 to August 11 in the French capital.

Men's volleyball is the "last bullet" for the sport of the largest of the Antilles to have a team discipline in the upcoming Olympic Games. However, it is worth clarifying that the pair of Noslen Díaz and Jorge Luis Alayo are patiently awaiting the officialization of their tickets in the beach modality.