Though Cuba is traditionally considered a baseball nation, football has garnered more public interest of late as the Cuban national team begins to assert itself ever so slightly.

Under Germany's Reinhold Fanz, the islanders made a decent enough start to their qualifying campaign for South Africa 2010. After struggling to beat Antigua and Barbuda 4-3 on the road, they roared back to win the return leg in Havana 4-0 (8-3 aggregate) and thereby book their passage to the first group stage.

But up against the USA, Trinidad and Tobago and Guatemala, the Cubans were simply in over their head and, after picking up just three points from their six semi-final group stage matches, they will now need to turn their focus to the next test: Brazil 2014.