On the heels of a 134-game winning streak at major international tournaments, Cuba had now lost games in four of the last five such competitions. At the ’99 Pan Am qualifier for these Olympics, the Cubans had tanked their last round-robin game against Canada, so that they would not have to face Team USA in the Pan Am semifinal. It worked, as Cuba beat Canada 3-2 in the semis, then beat the United States with Jose Contreras to win the Pan Am gold.
