American forces mopped up one of the last pockets of post-Cold War resistance yesterday when they deprived Cuba of the gold medal for the first time. The US won the final after a brilliant performance from their 22-year-old pitcher, Ben Sheets, who shut out the Cubans, pitching throughout the nine innings and securing a 4-0 victory. "At the bottom of the seventh," said one US writer, "Karl Marx got out of his seat and decided to beat the traffic." The Cuban manager, Servio Borges, paid tribute to Sheets and shrugged: "It's just a game of baseball." He may find it harder saying that back home.

Cuba had never lost a game since baseball was introduced to the Olympics in 1992 before a surprise defeat against the Dutch last week. However, the rules had turned against them since professionals were at last allowed to compete and, theoretically, the US could send a dream team of all-stars.

But the major league clubs had no intention of losing any players they needed at a crucial stage of the season and sent out instead a much-derided group of youngsters, with only a couple of old sweats. Sheets is no more than one of many up-and-comers making his way towards the top of the Milwaukee Brewers farm system. At least, that's all he was.

"This guy's a great pitcher," said the US manager, 73-year-old Tommy Lasorda. "He's got ice water in his veins. He's just a baby as far as baseball is concerned and look at what he's done in front of the whole world."

Lasorda, who managed the Los Angeles Dodgers in four World Series, had no doubt about the importance of this win. "This is bigger than the World Series. When the Dodgers won, the Dodger fans were happy but no one else was. But today, with this baseball team, the United States of America gets happy. By today everyone in the world knows about these players."

You don't have to buy everything he says to catch the drift. And this is certainly yet another poke in the eye across the Florida Keys to Uncle Sam's longest-running irritant - in the sport Fidel Castro loves most. It may be followed by some further smaller-scale digs as well. Round the stadium were US major-league scouts.

The Cuban pitcher, Maels Rodriguez, touched 100 m.p.h. during the middle innings of last night's game. Only a couple of guys in the US can match that, and it makes his potential value astronomical should he happen to make a mistake and go to the wrong departure gate at Sydney Airport. Last Saturday, when Cuba won the preliminary game against the US, there was a near-brawl. This was a routine baseball argument. Nonetheless the US players thought the Cubans were keyed up and antagonistic. In the final, though, everything was tranquil.