Yosniel Mesa

Yosniel Mesa Díaz (born 11 May 1981) is a Cuban retired football and futsal player.

Yosniel Mesa
Personal information
Full name Yuniel Mesa Diaz[1]
Date of birth (1981-05-11) 11 May 1981[2]
Place of birth Cienfuegos, Cuba
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
–2011 Cienfuegos
National team
2004–2008 Cuba (futsal)
2010–2011 Cuba 6 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only
This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Mesa and the second or maternal family name is Díaz.

Club career

Nicknamed Capi, Mesa played for his native provincial team Cienfuegos. After his defection he trained with Fort Lauderdale Strikers.[3]

International career

Mesa played in the 2004 and 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup tournaments representing Cuba in both.[4]

He made his senior international debut for Cuba in a November 2010 Caribbean Cup qualification match against Grenada and has earned a total of 6 caps, scoring no goals. Later, he was involved in the 2010 Caribbean Cup tournament and made one appearance, as a substitute against Guadeloupe in the 83rd minute replacing Leonel Duarte.

He also was part of the Cuba national football team squad for the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, playing in one match. He defected to the United States during the tournament.[5]

Personal life

Defection to the United States

After losing to Mexico on 9 June 2011, Mesa left his Charlotte hotel at dawn through a fire escape[6] and joined his uncle Julio (also a defector himself) who was waiting in his car outside the hotel. The pair then drove off to Julio's house in Miami.[7]

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References
  1. Yosniel Mesa at Soccerway
  2. "Futsal tournament overview" (PDF). CONCACAF.com. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  3. El cubano fugado en Copa Oro ya entrena en Fort Lauderdale – Chicago Tribune (in Spanish)
  4. Yosniel Mesa – FIFA competition record
  5. Cuba player defects during Gold Cup
  6. Yosniel Mesa, último capítulo en una larga lista de deserciones cubanas – El Mundo (in Spanish)
  7. Cuban Yosniel Mesa shares details of defection – Sporting News


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