Cuba appoints new head coach for national soccer team

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 19 (acn) Camagüey's Julio Valero Martinez was appointed as the new head coach of the Cuban national soccer team, which next month will face the qualifiers for the Caribbean Cup.

Valero, who in his debut as coach won the title with Camagüey squad in the centenary edition of the National Soccer Championship, will replace to Ciego de Avila's Raul Gonzalez Triana.
"Lulo", as he is known in domestic soccer, will be officially on charge of the team after the end of the fifth day of the current 101st Cuban tournament, which will take place on coming March 12 and in which Camagüey will visit Santiago de Cuba, at Antonio Maceo stadium.
It is worth mentioning that Valero will have very little time to debut as coach of the Cuban national side, given the proximity of the qualifiers for the Caribbean Cup.
For this Caribbean preliminary stage, Cuba will first face as local Bermuda, on March 22 at Pedro Marrero Stadium, while on the 29th of the same month it will visit French Guyana.
Undoubtedly, the team will comprise most of the 23 players who rivaled Panama in January, and lost 0-4 in the playoffs that granted a ticket for the Centennial Copa America.