Reinier Alcántara Núñez (born January 14, 1982, in

Pinar del Río Pinar del Río is the capital city of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. With a population of 191,081 (2022), it is the List of cities in Cuba, 10th-largest city in Cuba. Inhabitants of the area are called ''Pinareños''. History Pinar del Río was ...

) is a retired

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who played for

Miami FC Miami FC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (201 ...

in the

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

Career

Club

Alcántara made his debut with FC Pinar del Río at age of 15 and played with the team until the time of his defection to the United States. Has won Cuban league MVP award in 2006 and 2007, although this has not earned him much reward in his home nation because Cuban players are not permitted to sign professional contracts. Alcántara defected from Cuba to the United States in 2008 in the hope of a securing professional career. Following his defection he trialed with several

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

clubs, including

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

who filed a discovery claim on him following the 2008 season, which means that whomever the MLS awards the claim will have first rights to sign him to a professional contract. Having not been offered an MLS contract, Alcántara joined

of the

for the 2009 season, alongside his compatriot Pedro Faife.

International

Alcántara was a member of Cuba's under 17 and 23 teams and in 2005 made his debut for the senior Cuba national team in a January

2005 Gold Cup The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the eighth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Gold Cup, the association football, soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was contested in the United States in July 2005 ...

qualification match against

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. During the 2007 Gold Cup on 8 June 2007 at

Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and primarily hosted sporting events and ...

he scored the first goal of the match against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Alcántara has been capped 18 times for the national team, scoring 10 goals, but he is not expected to make any more appearances for the national team since his defection to the United States. He represented his country in only 2 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.

Personal life

Defection to the United States

Alcántara's formal job in Cuba was a sports complex maintenance employee since there were officially no professional footballers in Cuba.Defector Recounts Escape
- Washington Post He

defected In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

when he disappeared from his hotel outside of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

before a CONCACAF 3rd round World Cup qualifier against the

on 11 October 2008. Alcántara planned his defection before he even left Cuba. He fled from the Cuban team's coaches and security at his hotel before the match. He eventually met up with a friend who drove him to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, where he began his legal defection to the United States.

References

External links

Miami FC bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alcantara, Reinier 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Pinar del Río Men's association football forwards Cuban people of Catalan descent Defecting Cuban footballers Cuba men's international footballers FC Pinar del Río players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (2006–2016) players USL First Division players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Cuban expatriate men's footballers Cuban expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Cuban men's footballers