American athletes don't end up visiting Cuban soil all that often, but Jurgen Klinsmann knows that he needs to take these next six weeks to get his United States Men's National Team together to get ready for that very first match in World Cup qualifying against Mexico in November. This match against Cuba isn't necessarily about winning and losing (though losing really isn't an option against such a poor team) as much as it is about getting this team on the same page for El Tri.
Don't miss the soccer action from Estadio Pedro Marrero at 4 p.m. ET on Friday, October 7, 2016. Catch every moment of the match live on ESPN.
Odds Analysis
It's obvious that the Americans are going to be huge favorites in this match. The Cubans haven't beaten the United States since 1947, and they're 0-0-9 against the Yanks since 1949, losing 6-0, 4-1 and 6-1 in the last three matches the teams have played against each other.
The question really, is how many goals the Stars and Stripes will win this match by. Common thought suggests that the margin will be large, though the last two times the Americans were here on Cuban soil in 2005 and 2008 resulted in 4-1 and 1-0 wins respectively.
Roster Analysis
The big problem this Cuban team has is the fact that hardly any of the players have ever actually left Cuba. Alain Cervantes is the most experienced player on the team in the Cuban midfield, but he has just 67 Caps and has played his entire career in Cuba. The team only brought two strikers with it into this match, Maikel Reyes and Alexei Zuasnabar, and you can bet that just one of them will be on the pitch in a 4-5-1 or 5-4-1 formation.
Klinsmann meanwhile, has some more interesting decisions to make. It'll be a young team for sure, as we suspect that Bobby Wood and Christian Pulisic will both be given a chance to play extended minutes in this affair. Michael Bradley will again be wearing the captain's armband in the midfield, but the real roster questions will come at the back. Young defender Kellyn Acosta is one of the man who Klinsmann is excited about, and at just 21-years old, Acosta has represented himself well at FC Dallas. This might be a good opportunity to see if he can change the tide of failed American defenses in the past against a team that should be beaten easily regardless of some minor mistakes if they do end up happening.
Recent Form
The Cubans did play in the Gold Cup last year, losing two of their three matches. They did beat Guatemala 1-0 before getting ripped by the USA in the last group stage match to get eliminated from the tournament, but it was still a good showing.
Since then, Cuba has played Nicaragua four times, mustering just one draw from the affairs. Cuba did beat Bermuda 2-1 in Caribbean Cup qualifying in March, but there's a long way to go from beating Bermuda to challenging the United States.
The Americans have generally played fairly well. They had a hiccup on the road against Guatemala in the third round of qualifying for the World Cup, and that did put some things in the fire, but the team has responded well, beating Guatemala at home as well as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago in the last two qualifiers to get into the Hex. A semifinal campaign and a fourth place finish in Copa America was largely regarded as a success as well.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
As we stated a bit earlier, the question here isn't so much as to whether the United States will win this match, but by how many goals.
The Cuban defense has been poor for the most part, and even with the team trying to stay in form as much as it can, it just doesn't have the ability to stay that way with all of the raw talent the Stars and Stripes are bringing their way. Don't be surprised if this one gets out of hand a little early, as the United States should confidently walk away with a resounding victory.
Soccer Odds: USA 7, Cuba 0
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