CHARLOTTE, N.C. -Soccer probably doesn't immediately come to mind when you think of Cuba and international sports.

Baseball and boxing might.

After all, Cuba has produced many Major League Baseball players and world championship boxers.

But how many star Cuban soccer players can you name?

Many people probably do not know Cuba has a national soccer team. Cuba has not had much success at the soccer world stage.

That's something the Cuban Soccer Federation is trying to change.

Cuba tries to prove it has a squad filled with players willing to play for their country even if it doesn't involve wearing a catcher's mitt or swinging a wooden bat.

Cuba has the opportunity to change perceptions in the Gold Cup, under way since Sunday in the United States. It's a start, an international tournament seen by enough people to earn some respect.

But the Cubans will probably won't if they continue to lose. Costa Rica blasted Cuba 5-0 in the Gold Cup opener last week in Dallas. Cuba looked lost.

And it is not getting any easier.

Cuba faces Mexico on Thursday the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

Mexico is a favorite to win the tournament with all of its stars on the roster, some under contract with European, Mexican and American teams. They make millions.

The Cubans, who qualified to the 20-day tournament after finishing in third place at the 2010 Caribbean Cup, carry players considered amateurs in their communist country.

Cuba's best outing at a Gold Cup was in 2003 when it reached the quarterfinals.

It hasn't had much success outside of the region and in World Cup qualifying.

But the island nation remains optimistic against Mexico.

"We know the Mexican national team very well," said Luis Hernández, president of the Cuban Soccer Federation. "We know their players. Mexico is a great team but that motivates us when we are against world-caliber players. It gives us a chance to measure our talents."

Cuba's only World Cup participation was in 1938. It beat Romania. There hasn't been much growth since.

Cuban players play in their domestic league. They don't play overseas. They don't have the chance to sign a lucrative contract with a foreign team.

That is why Cuba is infamous for having athletes defect during international tournaments.

The Gold Cup is no exception.

A pair of Cuban players defected in Los Angeles during the 2002 Gold Cup, another in 2005 and two more during the 2007 tournament.

That is why Cuban officials who are traveling with the current Gold Cup squad monitor the players. They walk off the bus with them to practice sessions and to the games in lines of four or five.

Cuba's current national team coach Raul González was asked how difficult it is to keep his players from defecting.

"I am not going to answer that one," González said after his team lost to Costa Rica last week. "I came here to speak about sports not politics."

But anything that has to do with Cuba will probably always include politics.

In 2008, seven players defected from the Cuban Under-23 national team and another two defected days before Cuba was to play in a World Cup qualifier against the United States.

Most of the defected players seek political asylum in hopes to remain in the United States and obtain work permits to be able to try out for local clubs.

It's a tough task to accomplish but there are a handful of Cuban defectors who have seen some success in the U.S., particularly in Major League Soccer and the United Soccer Leagues.

One of those who defected in 2008 was José Manuel Miranda. He left the team in Tampa, Fla,. and went on to sign with several USL clubs.

He is now under contract with Puerto Rico United in the USL's Professional Division.

"The concept of playing professionally was new to us," Miranda said soon after defecting. "It hadn't occurred to us as an option."

Lester More and Osvaldo Alonso also defected in 2007 during the Gold Cup. More, Cuba's all-time leading scorer went on to play in the USL. Alonso moved on to sign with the Seattle Sounders of MLS after a stint with a club in South Carolina.

Another notable player to make that transition is Maykel Galindo, who defected during the 2005 Gold Cup. He walked out of the Cuban team's hotel in Seattle, got in a city bus and asked the driver to call a Spanish-speaking high school teacher he had just met.

Galindo went on to play for the Seattle Sounders of the USL at the time and later signed an MLS contract with Chivas USA in 2008 worth $79,500 for that season. He became one of the league's top scorers that year. His output on the field has since declined due to injuries.

Galindo, who now plays for Dallas FC, played for Cuba from 2002 to 2005.

Yordany Alvarez and Yenier Bermudez soon heard word of Galindo's success in the United States. They watched his matches on pirated television in Cuba. They defected during a tournament in Miami. They got on a Greyhound bus and rode across the country to Los Angeles, where they tried out with the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA. But neither team signed them.

While the Cuban national team continues to try and build respect amid international competition, it loses its best players to the United States because of politics.

But that doesn't mean Cuba will not try to be competitive at the international stage. That includes their Gold Cup.

And if Cuba wants to be a respected soccer nation, it will have to show more against Mexico on Thursday night.

Ivan.orozco@sandiegored.com