Pele and Raul among the stars to play in Havana, where the Cuban national squad hosted the first US professional team since December’s detente effort

As he lined up with his teammates to listen to the Star-Spangled Banner on Tuesday night, New York Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer admitted he became a bit emotional. After all, it’s not every day you get to hear your national anthem played in front of thousands of people in the capital city in a country with which your nation had an adversarial relationship.

The crowd cheered after the anthem was played, which was surprising in itself in a nation that has been forbidden to many Americans for 54 years.

“I’m not big into politics and everything,” Maurer said. “Everyone knows how the situation has been. A simple thing like that, people cheering, it gets a little emotional. It was a great moment and an honor to be a part of.”

You couldn’t blame Maurer getting a bit emotional. It was the first sporting event between the two countries since President Obama announced his plans to normalize relations with Cuba last December.

Emotional or not, the Cosmos went out and showed they were all business, striking four times in the opening half, including three goals within a 10-minute span. The visitors kept their emotions in check en route to a 4-1 victory in front of an estimated 18,000 fans who were entertained by the international friendly that was played, for the most part, in a steady rain. Lucky Mkosana finished with a brace and Sebastian Guenzatti and Hagop Chirishian added goals. Andy Vaquero tallied the lone Cuban score.

As professional soccer player, the 26-year-old Maurer managed to stifle his emotions. There was a game at hand.

“It’s always one of those things in sport, you’re almost blind to it,” he said. “When you step onto the soccer field, you can be in any country in the world. It’s all the same game. We were all pretty focused on the job we had to do.

“You don’t realize it until after the fact. After the time passes as we look back at it, it will hit us more.”

In the long run, the score really did not matter. The fact that these two teams played here was much more significant. The Baltimore Orioles were the most recent American team to play here in 1999, and the Chicago Sting was the last US pro soccer team to compete here in 1978.”I would love to come back,” Cosmos head coach Giovanni Savarese said. “We are leaving with a great taste with the hospitality.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A boy holds a sign welcoming Pele and Raul to Cuba. Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters

A day before the match, fans lined up in front of the stadium patiently waiting to purchase tickets at four pesos apiece.

“I love football. I love soccer,” said Alejandro, a local resident. “I’m waiting on line for a long time, which is taking forever.”

“This place is amazing,” said Alfonso, a “big soccer fan”.

“I’m very excited – it’s been many years from when a professional team has come here from the United States. We hope it opens the door for teams around the world.

“I’ll be cheering for Cuba but the Cosmos are much better than Cuba.”

As the Cosmos took the field for their warm-ups, the crowd chanted: “Raul! Raul!”

Those chants weren’t for their country’s president, Raul Castro, who did not attend the match, but rather for the visitors’ legendary striker, Raul, who enjoys a vibrant fan base just about anywhere on this planet, including Cuba.

“It was an honor to play against the Cuban national team,” Raul said. “They have a talented team and we felt it was a very good game. Football brings people together and we saw it today.”

Raúl did not score, although he wound in the middle of the second goal. He also played the entire 90 minutes. Several observers felt he would be replaced in the second half to get some rest and a deserved ovation.

“I think it felt very important to him to be a big figure in a game like this,” Maurer said. “It was something he wanted to do. We played four games in 11 days in two countries. Things could have gone differently where he may needed a sub physically, I think he had every intention of playing the full 90 in regards of what this game meant.”

Finally, after 90 minutes, referee Yadel Martinez sounded the final whistle. A few minutes later, the Cosmos walked to the stands and embarked on a short walk in front of the grandstand to thank the fans.

“We realized the importance of the match,” Maurer said. “We wanted to say thanks to everyone and applaud them for coming out and being this symbolic thing what it was today.”

Perhaps it will be more than symbolic in the future. Perhaps other sports teams, whether it is soccer, baseball, football or whatever, can follow suit and visit this Caribbean country to continue to narrow the gap between two nations barely 90 miles apart.

“I don’t know if this going to affect anything in a political sense,” Maurer said. “A couple of more teams can come, maybe one of their teams can come to the US. Little by little those things help. It has been a great experience for us.”

It also has been a fruitful visit for Maurer on and off the field in this country, which has been frozen in time. During some off, Maurer went shopping for some souvenirs for himself and wife. He purchased a couple of shirts, a piece of framed stain-glass window and a piece of art.

Perhaps best souvenir Maurer or any of his teammates can bring home will be the memory of playing of breaking down another wall, making some history and giving other American sports and soccer teams an opportunity to play down here.

“This is a great first step,” Savarese said. “The doors are open.”

Only time will tell how much of an impact that will be.