Cuban sports officials were stunned Thursday by the desertions of up to seven soccer players in Florida and were unsure how it would affect the under-23 team. "We feel really badly," Antonio Garces of the Cuban Soccer Association told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "It's not known if the boys can continue in the tournament." The Cuban team is scheduled to play Honduras on Thursday night in Tampa, Fla. The game is part of a qualifying tournament for the Beijing Olympics, sponsored by the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, or CONCACAF.

The players, who had not yet reported to authorities, went missing after Cuba tied the United States 1-1 Tuesday.

Cuban sports officials and CONCACAF have not identified the missing players. Missing from Wednesday's practice were: Jose Manuel Miranda, 21; Erlys Garcia Baro, Yenier Bermudez, Yordany Alvarez and Loanni Prieto, all 22.

Player Yendry Diaz told ESPN in an interview that he and forward Eder Roldan also had left the team, bringing the total to seven.

Under the United States'"wet foot, dry foot" policy, Cubans who reach U.S. soil are allowed to remain in the country and apply for U.S. residency after one year.