New York Cosmos' Match In Cuba To Be Simulcast Live On ESPN2

ONE World Sports, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN Deportes Radio will carry the anticipated Cosmos vs. Cuba match on June 2 at 5 p.m. ET. The game marks the first time a U.S. sports team visits Cuba since President Obama announced steps toward full diplomacy with the country. It is also the first live sports telecast involving a U.S. team since USA beat Cuba, 1-0, in Havana in the semifinal round of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers in 2008. The match on ESPN2 will be broadcast and produced by ONE World Sports with JP Dellacamera and former Cosmos goalkeeper Shep Messing calling the action. Ed Cohen will be reporting live from Havana.

ESPN Deportes’ television coverage will be led by play-by-play commentator Richard Mendez alongside the analysis of Manu Martin. To cover the historic visit, the legendary Mexican journalist Jacobo Zabludovsky, who also visited Cuba 56 years ago to interview Fidel Castro before his entrance to the Cuban capital after the triumph of the Cuban revolution, will travel to Havana alongside ESPN’s Heriberto Murrieta to present all the news and stories around the event. Their reports will be featured on SportsCenter and across ESPN Deportes’ studio programming.

The Cosmos and the Cuban National Team first announced plans for the June event in March. The Cosmos will be the first U.S. professional soccer franchise to play in Cuba since the Chicago Sting visited in 1978, and the first U.S. professional sports team to visit there since the Baltimore Orioles played the Cuban National Baseball Team in an exhibition game in Havana in 1999.