Well Hello There Mr. Alain Roca!
The 35 year old outside hitter who was one of Cuba’s best athletes in the 90s has replaced the injured Clay Stanley. Before moving to Russia to play for Ural Ufa, Roca played for Italian club team Andreoli Latina in the Italian League. He parted ways with his former team in good terms with Latina saying that Ural Ufa offered Alain a $$$ contract to play for the rest of the season.
Roca has also played in the Brazilian and Turkish Leagues.
More pics!
In case you didn’t know, Roca quit the National Team some years ago and he didn’t actually defect as we previously thought. He became inactive for 5 years before getting the permission from the Cuban government to become a professional player. With this mutual agreement, Roca can visit Cuba anytime he wants unlike those who have defected, ie Aguero, Tellez & Marshall to name a few.
Other notable Ufa players are 2008 Olympic gold medalist Lloy Ball and Russian middle blocker Alexei Kazakov.
As of press time, Ufa is currently ranked 5th in the Russian Super League.
(Images: Volley.ru)