City winger heads to USA in Gold Cup pursuit – PinkUn
Published: 8:22 AM June 28, 2021
Updated: 8:27 AM June 28, 2021
The international adventures of Norwich City winger Onel Hernandez are set to continue in the USA later this week – which could lead to him missing part of pre-season with the Canaries, if successful.
Hernandez has been confirmed as part of the Cuba squad which is preparing for Gold Cup qualification action in Florida on Friday (12am Saturday, UK time).
The 28-year-old’s dream of representing his country finally became a reality in March after years of trying, with players plying their trade away from the Caribbean island previously not considered for selection.
In recent months the speedy attacker has earned four caps and scored two goals as Cuba won two and lost two of the opening games of their World Cup qualification group.
At the start of this month
https://www.pinkun.com/sport/norwich-city/onel-hernandez-cuba-international-debut-8023816
Hernandez was on target as the British Virgin Islands were thrashed 5-0 in Guatemala and that was followed by a 1-0 win ovet St Vincent and the Grenadines in Grenada.
The popular Canaries wide man has updated his Instagram account in recent weeks showing him continuing to work with his international team-mates and now they’re preparing for a return to competitive action.
They face French Guyana in Florida on Friday at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, the current home of David Beckham’s MLS franchise Inter Miami as they pursue a major facility in Miami – with the name dedicated to a cancer charity.
The winner is due to play Montserat or Trinidad & Tobago at the same venue on Monday in a decider for claiming one of the final three qualification spots.
The tournament is being held between July 10 and August 1 in nine cities across southern states in the US, including in Las Vegas, Texas and Orlando.
Cuba have qualified for the Gold Cup regularly but lost all three group games in 2019, to Mexico, Canada and Martinique, reaching the quarter-finals on three previous occasions.
If they manage to qualify they would join the USA, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Honduras, Grenada, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Curacao, Martinique, Suriname and Panama, as well as invited external nation Qatar and the other two qualifiers, at the tournament.
They would be placed in a group alongside Mexico, El Salvador and Curacao.
Hernandez is the most high-profile of the players involved although the 24-man squad does include players who are playing professionally in countries including the USA, Brazil, Italy, Norway and Spain.
MORE: Police interviews and faulty planes – the inside track on Onel’s Cuba bow
The former Eintracht Braunschweig winger became the first Cuban to play and score in the Premier League during 2019-20 and is hoping to force his way back into front-line contention after an injury-hit season featured just six league starts as City won the Championship title to return to the top flight.
He is under contract at Norwich until 2023 having scored 11 goals in 107 games since joining in January 2018, revealing a Canaries tattoo on his left bicep amid the promotion celebrations at the end of the season.
City report card: Crunch time for Onel’s Norwich journey
