Norwich City’s Onel Hernandez makes historic Cuban debut

To represent your country at international level is a goal for every footballer. This dream became a reality for Norwich City winger Onel Hernandez after finally making his long-awaited debut for Cuba in a recent qualifier.

The 28-year-old was born in Cuba in 1993 and spent his early years in the country until he emigrated to Gutersloh in Germany, near Dortmund, when he was six. Hernandez went to live with his mother, who moved there two years earlier after getting engaged to a German tourist, who she met in the mid-1990s.

Struggling to adapt to his new life, Hernandez’s stepfather was a football coach and pushed him to pursue playing the sport as a means of helping him settle. After playing for various youth teams, Hernandez joined Arminia Bielefeld’s youth academy at 14, where he made his professional debut three years later.

The exciting winger later had spells at Werder Bremen II, Wolfsburg II, and Eintracht Braunschweig before making the move to England in January 2018, when he joined Norwich City for £2.2m.

Life at Norwich City

The Cuban had a slow start at Carrow Road but continued to show glimpses of his raw pace and ability to beat his man.

In his first full season at Norwich, Hernandez began to flourish in Daniel Farke’s free-flowing Canaries side. He had 18 goal involvements, as Norwich claimed the 2018/19 Championship title, scoring some notable goals over the campaign, including one against fierce rivals Ipswich Town.

His form saw the Norwich man get his first call up to the Cuban national team in November 2018, but this got rescinded.

The country’s governing body, INDER, for years has controlled which Cuban players had contracts that allowed them to play for the national side. To be eligible, players had to be within the Cuban national sports system, whereby it was not open for Cuban players who were residing in other countries.

That was until the start of the 2022 CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers during the current international break, as for the first time in the nation’s history, Cuba has called up players residing outside the country.

Cuban Dream

Hernandez is one of those, and he expressed his happiness at being called up when talking to Norwich City’s official site:

“It feels incredible, I still can’t believe it. I got the call-up last time, and it wasn’t working out, but this time it’s possible.

“It’s a fantastic feeling that I still can’t believe because I’m not there yet, it’s a long way to get there and we have to see what happens, but I’m very proud and happy.

“It was a horrible feeling [to have a call-up rescinded]because I just want to play football and support my country, I think there was a lot more behind it and things were going on then so it wasn’t possible, it was not a nice situation.

“It was 100% worth waiting, in my head in those moments I was thinking I was so happy, and now to go back and feel this same happiness in a better way, it’s so much better.

“It’s crazy, this is the first time they’re calling players back. I think there is a lot of Cuban players around the world that play football and for those guys it’s incredible as well.

“To come back and play for our country, not only me but these other guys, with all our qualities, it’s a fantastic thing.”

Making History

Over two years after his first call up, he finally made his debut in Cuba’s 1-0 defeat to Guatemala in their opening Group C qualifier after Hernandez came on as a substitute in the 46th minute.

The man known simply as ‘Onel’ by Norwich fans made his full international debut in Sunday evening’s second group qualifier against Curacao. The Cuban born winger made history when he scored in the 27th minute, in what was only his second international appearance.

Hernandez will also be looking forward to helping Norwich return to the top-flight at the first time of asking, with the Canaries perched top of the table with eight games remaining. The winger recently chalked up a memorable milestone in Norfolk, making his 100th appearance in a yellow and green shirt.

Last season, he became the first Cuban to play in the Premier League when he made his debut at Anfield against Liverpool. Meanwhile, he also became the first Cuban to score in the Premier League when he scored a consolation goal against Manchester United.

Inevitably he will hope to reach more milestones next season, as Norwich edge closer to a return to the Premier League.

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