A Cuban Footballer in England's Premier League for the First Time
- Written by Redacción ¡ahora!
- Published in Sports
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Norwich all but assured its promotion to the first division of England football and striker Onel Hernandez is today one of the great attractions of the event, as he will become the first Cuban ever to play in the Premier League.
In winning its promotion, Norwich counted on the power of Finnish striker Teemu Pukki as its goal leader, with 27 strikes, but he is not the only player with a leading role in the feat.
Tim Krul, Emi Buendia and Onel Hernandez, among others, also contributed to the return to the Premier League. The case of Hernandez is a 'rara avis', since no Cuban player has ever played in that category since England's first division football was established in 1888.
Hernandez, 26, will mark a milestone in the history of the competition when he makes his first appearance next August with the Norwich's yellow and green uniform.
Born in the Cuban municipality of Moron, Ciego de Avila, the striker emigrated to Germany when he was six years old, along with his mother and sister. He soon joined the academies of Westphalia Neuenkirchen, FC Gutersloh 2000, Rot Weiss Ahlen and Arminia Bielefeld, and then German football's Werder Bremen II.
He then passed through Wolfsburg II and Eintracht Braunschweig before signing with Norwich in January 2018. / PL
