Well, “security” of some sort was in place, but it appears as if two Cuban national soccer team players went AWOL from the team’s Arlington hotel on Friday. Midfielder Pedro Faife and forward Reynier Alcantara, both in their mid-twenties, could not be accounted for as the Cuban team – in town for a World Cup qualifying match against the United States at RFK Stadium this evening – traveled to practice. There’s no word on whether or not the assumed defections are due to any interest from Major League Soccer teams, although Alcantara’s strike rate of 10 goals in 16 career international appearances is intriguing. (It should be noted that the deadline for MLS teams to add players this season has passed.)

The Cubans, of course, deny the players even traveled into the States. Hey, maybe the two just wanted to visit the “single most unpleasant place on Earth.”