Cuba, ranked 104th, has not qualified for the World Cup since 1938.

The United States didn’t have things all in its own way in getting through the Group stage, but the team could realistically not have wished for a kinder draw in the knockout stage of the Gold Cup.

Independence player Henry Kalungi echoed his coach’s comments about the Gold Cup’s impact in the Queen City.

Klinsmann’s urgency stems largely from the fact that this edition of the biennial Gold Cup has added importance.

Klinsmann preferred to put a positive spin on USA’s form leading into the quarterfinals, claiming his side is battle-hardened in its bid for success.

The fact that Cuba continue to remain afloat in the competition is all the more remarkable given the turmoil which has accompanied their campaign.

But only a late goal-line clearance from captain Bryan Ruiz prevented the Costa Ricans from suffering an embarrassing defeat in their final Group B game against Canada on Wednesday, which ended in a 0-0 draw.

Said Gonzalez, with a grin: “I personally don’t like baseball”. The Haiti match is a prime example, not to discredit Haiti, but the USMNT could have played a thousand times better than it did.

Cuba’s first goal of the tournament came when Alberto Gomez sent a crossing pass in the center of the box to Reyes, who headed the ball past Paulo Motta. Reyes was given a yellow card for taking his shirt off as he celebrated with teammates in front of a corner kick flag.

“Maybe we can use the joy and happiness from that [Guatemala] result for our benefit here”, said midfielder Yenier Marquez, who, at 36, is the team’s most experienced player.

Reyes did not play in Cuba’s first pool play game, a 6-0 loss last week to Mexico due to visa issues.

The two teams with the highest scoring output thus far combined for seven second half goals.

“He brings a lot of experience into this group, and he’s hungry- he’s still as hungry as day one [of] his career”, Klinsmann said.

Hooligans has hosted many World Cup watch parties before, and the bar expects the same Wednesday.

Cuba had another player leave the team Tuesday night.

Forward Keiler Garcia defected before the opener, backup goalkeeper Arael Arguellez deserted the team and disappeared, Dario Suarez and Aricheel Hernandez went absent before the group finale. The tournament is held every two years. “I’m here to talk about (soccer), not politics”.

Prediction: Cuba did wonderfully well to emerge with a victory against the odds in a do-or-die match, but it’s hard to see how it won’t be overwhelmed against the United States.

“I think we’re definitely the team to beat in this tournament”, usa coach Jurgen Klinsmann said at Friday’s prematch press conference.