Sunday, January 23
Our men in Havana
For the past couple of weeks our favourite left wing German football team FC St Pauli have been training in Cuba (In German). The Hamburg club also played two matches - one against the Cuban youth side and one against the full Cuban national team. St Pauli are the first Western team ever to tour Cuba in the Castro era.
St Pauli have taken over to Cuba loads of sports equipment which they will donate to local teams. A fan who has travelled over to Cuba reports that Pauli fans are refusing to travel in local cabs, because their numberplates all begin with the letters HSV (Initials of their Hamburg arch rivals).
The team were invited to a government dinner, but there are no reports as yet as to whether they got to meet Castro. It is worth remembering that Cuba is still very much an international pariah, with American citizens not allowed to visit the country. This makes St Pauli's visit even more important and shows what a politically focused and forward thinking team they are.
Siempre St Pauli!
For the past couple of weeks our favourite left wing German football team FC St Pauli have been training in Cuba (In German). The Hamburg club also played two matches - one against the Cuban youth side and one against the full Cuban national team. St Pauli are the first Western team ever to tour Cuba in the Castro era.
St Pauli have taken over to Cuba loads of sports equipment which they will donate to local teams. A fan who has travelled over to Cuba reports that Pauli fans are refusing to travel in local cabs, because their numberplates all begin with the letters HSV (Initials of their Hamburg arch rivals).
The team were invited to a government dinner, but there are no reports as yet as to whether they got to meet Castro. It is worth remembering that Cuba is still very much an international pariah, with American citizens not allowed to visit the country. This makes St Pauli's visit even more important and shows what a politically focused and forward thinking team they are.
Siempre St Pauli!
