Throughout history, 15 footballers linked to Cuba have played in Spanish soccer’s silver category
14ymedio, Any Lans, Matanzas, August 25, 2026 /
In soccer, as in life, great achievements rarely happen overnight. Eloy Nebreda was 11 or 12 years old when he began in Real Sociedad’s youth academy. This past August 14, at age 19, on the opening matchday of Spain’s Second Division, he received his first official call-up with the Basque institution’s B team.
The match took place at the Zubieta Sports City Stadium in San Sebastián. The opponent was Castellón, who ultimately won the match 1-0. Eloy sat on the bench for Real’s reserve team, wearing number 33, waiting for his chance to take the field – an opportunity that did not come this time.
But how did a Cuban footballer make his way into Spanish soccer’s second-highest level? First, we need to tell the story of how Eloy Nebreda became Cuban. Although the left-footed winger was born in the Basque Country, his Cuban roots run deep: “My mother is from Alquízar, a town about 60 kilometers from Havana that, curiously enough, was founded by a Basque. She was a dance teacher in Cuba and came to San Sebastián on an artistic tour. There she met my father and ended up staying. At first she kept up with dance, but it’s not easy to make a living from that here. She had to change jobs several times, making her way as best she could. Eventually she managed to start her own insurance company, which is no small thing. The truth is that, like a good Cuban, she has a real entrepreneurial spirit. I admire her enormously for everything she has fought through. To me, she’s a clear example of overcoming adversity.”
“Cuba is present in my life from the moment I wake up. Every morning, the first thing I see from my bed is a Cuban flag hanging in my room”
Although an ocean separates the Iberian Peninsula from a Caribbean island, the memory of his mother’s homeland never leaves him: “Cuba is present in my life from the moment I wake up. Every morning, the first thing I see from my bed is a Cuban flag hanging in my room. After that, Cuban food and music are with me every day. My mother has always been proud of her origins,” Eloy points out.
For that reason, when the opportunity arose to represent the senior Cuban national team, the young winger didn’t think twice: “The Cuban Soccer Association contacted me back around March 2025 and told me they had been following me. They asked if I would be willing to play for the Cuban national team. It was a tremendous thrill, and of course I said yes. I’ve always felt very connected to Cuba, I’ve traveled there many times since I was a child, and besides, I was already in the process of applying for Cuban citizenship. That allowed me to get my Cuban passport in September and make my debut with Cuba in November.”
In recent years, Nebreda’s rise at Real Sociedad has been meteoric. In the 2023-2024 season, he had a fruitful loan spell with CD Vasconia, which allowed him to play in the top youth category, the División de Honor, at just 16 years old. During that time, he also made a favorable impression as a left back. In 2024-2025 he was part of Real’s main Under-19 squad and played three matches in the Fourth Division with Real Sociedad C. He spent the entire 2025-2026 season with that third team, this time in the fifth tier, where he responded with two goals in 22 matches. For 2026-2027, a possible debut with the B team in the Second Division cannot be ruled out, although he is most likely to see more playing time with the C team.
“I got to Real Sociedad through some training sessions and tournaments the club organizes with a lot of players”
“I got to Real Sociedad through some training sessions and tournaments the club organizes with a lot of players. At first there were a lot of us, but then the number kept dropping. After a LaLiga Promises tournament that the club had entered me in, they told my parents they wanted me to play for Real Sociedad, and when they told me, I couldn’t believe it, I was so happy. That’s when I realized I was starting to take steps toward fulfilling my dream. Right now, this club is like my second home because of the way they treat me, because here I feel valued and I know they have confidence in me,” he notes.
“I couldn’t tell you which single person has helped me most since I arrived. So I’m grateful to everyone I’ve crossed paths with,” he says, looking back on his time with the club. Even so, one person does come to mind: “I would like to have a special memory for Mitxel Badiola, a coordinator I had through the youth ranks, who sadly is no longer with us. He helped me believe in my own potential, and for that I will always be grateful.” That’s how the defender who arrived from CD Kostkas describes his bond with the San Sebastián side.
Asked about his role models on Real Sociedad’s first team, Eloy replies: “Well, since I’m a winger, I look more to players like Takefusa Kubo or Ander Barrenetxea, who are more the dribbling type, and I identify with them more.”
With Eloy Nebreda’s recent call-up, the count now stands at 15 footballers linked to Cuba in the history of Spanish soccer’s silver category.
“Since I’m a winger, I look more to players like Takefusa Kubo or Ander Barrenetxea, who are more the dribbling type, and I identify with them more”
Because of his ties to the Cuban clubs Olimpia Sporting Club and Real Iberia, some specialized sites attribute Cuban nationality to the Galician-born José Torres Mourelle, who played in the Second Division between 1928 and 1934 with Deportivo La Coruña.
Francisco Betancourt, whose father was Cuban and who is recognized as the first Black footballer to play an official match with FC Barcelona, played 102 matches in the silver division across different spells between 1934 and 1951 with Badalona, Sabadell, and Constancia.
Another player with a past at Barça who also played in the Second Division with Deportivo La Coruña in the 1940s was midfielder Joan Muntaner, born in Chaparra, Cuba, in 1916.
Other players born in Cuba who also passed through Real Madrid were forwards Chus Alonso and Enrique Ferrer, as well as goalkeeper Mario Inchausti. All three played in the second tier. Alonso did so in 1935-1936 with Real Valladolid and in 1949-1950 with Zaragoza; Ferrer played eight matches with Nacional de Madrid in 1935-1936; and Inchausti featured for Zaragoza in 1935-1936 and for Betis in 1940-1941.
Francisco Martín Arencibia, born in Alquízar, had his moment in the Second Division with Granada, between 1947 and 1949
An Atlético de Madrid legend, Francisco Martín Arencibia, born in Alquízar, had his moment in the Second Division with Granada, between 1947 and 1949. The Divino Calvo (“Divine Bald One”) played 33 matches during that stretch, scoring a couple of goals, and flirted with promotion in 1948-1949, when the Andalusians finished third in the standings.
A particular case is that of brothers José and Emilio Álvarez Gutiérrez. Both Cubans played for Cultural Leonesa during the 1974-1975 campaign, in which the team finished last.
In this millennium there is the case of goalkeeper Christian Joel Sánchez, son of fellow Cuban goalkeeper Lázaro Joel Sánchez. Christian Joel had 212 call-ups in the Second Division with Sporting de Gijón between 2018 and 2026. He played 16 matches in the competition, conceding 16 goals and keeping four clean sheets.
Defender Carlos Vázquez, known as Cavafe, and a Cuban national team international on more than one occasion, was called up three times by Alcorcón at the start of the 2020-2021 season.
Alberto Moleiro, whose father is Cuban and who is now a Villarreal star, made his name with UD Las Palmas in the silver category
Forward Alberto Moleiro, whose father is Cuban and who is now a Villarreal star, made his name with UD Las Palmas in the silver category. At that level, he took part in 75 matches between 2021 and 2023, with three goals and nine assists. And, as if that weren’t enough, he experienced promotion to the First Division with the Canary Islanders.
During the 2021-2022 campaign, forward Jorge Aguirre, now a Cuban international whose mother is from Havana, played one match in the silver division with Real Sociedad B, and eight with Mirandés in the other half of the season.
Another player called up for a Second Division match with Real Sociedad B was fullback Alex Carbonell, whose father is from Guantánamo, on November 12, 2021, although he did not see any playing time that time.
Translated by GH
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