WASHINGTON (AP) -Two members of Cuba's national soccer team have gone missing during the team's trip to Washington for a World Cup qualifying match, the team's coach told reporters on Friday.

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``It is always a problem for the Cuba team,'' coach Reinhold Fanz told the Washington Post. ``We have security, but you can't handcuff them to their rooms.''

The Post identified the players as midfielder Pedro Faife, 24, and forward Reynier Alcantara, 26.

Cuba is scheduled to play the U.S. team at RFK Stadium on Saturday.

Defections have been a concern for Cuba when its sports teams travel abroad. In March, five soccer players went missing after the under-23 team played the U.S. in Tampa, Fla.