In recent years, there has been a bit of a boom in Cuban naturalized players in the world of men's volleyball, with Poland's Leon, Brazil's Real Madrid, and Russia's Camelot. The man who started this boom is former Cuban and current Italian representative, Osmany Yuantorena, one of the best active volleyball players in the world. Italy's silver medal in Rio would not have been possible without his joining the team. Born in 1985, he is 35 years old this year, and his evolution is unstoppable.
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Osmany Juantorena
Born August 12, 1985 (34 years old)
Born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
Height: 200cm
Weight: 85kg
Highest reach: 370cm
Position: Outside hitter
Jersey number: 5
Club
1997-04 Santiago de Cuba
2004-06 Ural-Ufa (Russia)
2009-13 Trento (Italy)
2013-15 Halkbank Ankara (Türkiye)
2015- Roubaix (Italy)
Representative career
2003-06 Cuba
2015- Italy
Cuban years
Juan Torena was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, and grew up in Havana. He originally wanted to play baseball, but since there was no place to play baseball around him at the time, he ended up playing volleyball. If he had been able to play baseball, he might have played for a Japanese baseball team.
But Osmany's talents blossomed not in baseball, but in volleyball. He made his debut in Cuba's top league at the age of 16, and two years later, at the age of 18, he made his debut for the senior national team. As a central member of the national team, Juantorena achieved good results, finishing as runner-up in the 2003 Pan American Cup and third in the 2005 World League. However, his time with the Cuban national team did not last long, as he chose to play in a league overseas.
Taking on overseas leagues
At the time, Cuban players playing in foreign leagues were not allowed to play for the Cuban national team. In other words, playing in a foreign league meant retiring from the national team (the Japanese national team once had a similar restriction). However, at just 20 years old, Juan Torena left the Cuban national team and chose to play in a foreign league.
His first team was Ural Ufa in Russia, where he spent two seasons, before a doping scandal and then a dispute with the Cuban federation meant he was unable to play for three years, but in the meantime he was moving on to the next stage: Trento, a prestigious club in Italy's Serie A.
Trent and Yuantorena
From his first season at Trento in the 2009/10 season, Juan Torena showed his full potential. At the time, Trento was also a star-studded team with players such as Bulgaria's Kaziyski and Brazil's Visotto, but Juan Torena was not inferior to them in any way, winning the MVP award in his debut match, and even surpassing them in performance. As a result, although the team finished as runner-up in the Italian league that season, they won three titles: the Coppa Italia, the European Champions League, and the World Club Championship. In particular, he was selected as the league MVP in the European Champions League. In response to his performance in his first year, the club extended Juan Torena's contract until the 2014/15 season. In the world of professional volleyball, where three years at the same club is considered a long time, it is unusual for a player to sign a five-year contract, and this shows how highly regarded he is.
However, in the end, Juan Torena only played for Trento for four years, until the 2012/13 season. However, during that time, he and Kaziyski, who were his teammates throughout, built Trento's golden age, and the team won numerous titles, including two league championships, three Coppa Italia championships, two Supercoppa championships, three consecutive European Champions League championships, and four consecutive World Club Championship championships. If we include runner-up finishes, the number would be huge, so we will not mention them here. Juan Torena's performance at Trento made him an instant star in the volleyball world.
Juan Torena (second from the left) during his time at Trento. Photo by CEV
I also think he had a big influence on future generations of Cuban volleyball players. Around 2010, the Cuban national team was the most successful in recent years, with players such as Simon, Leal, Leon, and Hernandez, but after a while, most of them followed Juan Torena and left the Cuban national team, going to Italy, Brazil, Russia, and Japan.
Juantorena still had a contract with Trento in the 2013/14 season, but due to financial problems, he was loaned to Halkbank Ankara in Turkey. At the same time, Kaziyski, Rafael, Djuric, and manager Stojčev also moved from Trento to Halkbank, which caused a lot of buzz (it seemed like the time of Turkey had come for the men's team since the days of Serie A, but it didn't last long). In short, it was about half Trento, so it was inevitable that they would be strong. Turkey won three domestic titles. It was thought that they would also win the European Champions League, but they lost to Russia's Belgorod in the final. Juantorena remained with Halkbank the following season. Kubiak was also a teammate that season.
Italy
After two seasons in Turkey, Juantorena was called up to the Italian national team for the first time in 2015. Although he had already acquired Italian citizenship in 2011, FIVB regulations required him to wait four years to play for the national team, and this was when that restriction was lifted. Juantorena made his debut for the Italian national team at the age of 30, about 10 years after retiring from the Cuban national team. Juantorena's arrival on the national team was also a welcome development for the Italian national team, which was lacking in outside players with scoring ability.
The impact of his inclusion on the national team was immediate. The team placed third in the European Championships and runner-up in the World Cup, and they quickly qualified for the Rio Olympics the following year. The Rio Olympics was Juantorena's first Olympic Games at the age of 30. They came out on top of a crowded Pool A in the qualifying rounds, and in the semi-finals they beat the United States in a full-set battle to advance to the finals. Although they were completely defeated by Brazil, who were cheering on from the local fans, they still managed to finish in a respectable second place.
Photo by FIVB
After the Rio Olympics, he continues to play for the Italian national team. Of course, he is a main player. He has already got a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics. If the Olympics are held safely next year, we will be able to see him play in Japan for the first time in six years.
Return to Serie A
In the same year that he joined the Italian national team, Juan Torena also returned to Serie A, but not to Trento, his former team, but to the equally prestigious Roubaix. Since Juan Torena joined the team, Roubaix has won the league twice, the Coppa Italia twice, the European Champions League once, and the World Club Championship once. He also won MVP in each tournament in which he won a title. He turned 35 this year, making him a veteran volleyball player, but he still shows no signs of slowing down.
As an aside, in addition to Juan Torena, Roubaix currently has two other Cuban riders, Simon and Leal, on its roster, so it is interesting to see the Cuban national team that might have been.
Photo by FIVB
An all-rounder with few mistakes
When it comes to Yuantraine's distinctive features, people tend to focus on his height, which can reach a maximum of 370cm, but personally I think it is his all-round ability and the lack of mistakes that make him stand out.
Not only is he very stable on the offensive side, with his high and decisive spikes and serves, but he is also very stable on the defensive side, with his blocking, digging, and reception. He also makes very few mistakes, especially on his serves. In the data from last season's Serie A, he was not even in the top 20 for the number of aces per set, but he was ranked first overall in terms of serve effectiveness, which shows how few mistakes he makes and how aggressively he still serves.
Personally, I think he is not as flashy as other Cuban players such as Leon and Simon. His spikes are not as "boom" as the former two, but rather have a sharp "snap" feel. I think the same can be said when compared to Zaitsev. However, needless to say, his play is full of highlights, and there is something about his humanity that is attractive on the court. That is why, despite being a naturalized player, he has been loved for a long time and has earned great respect from even the harsh Italian volleyball fans.
Photo by FIVB
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