By Ivan Orozco

GLENDALE, Arizona - Carlos Alonso will keep the memories.

He won't forget the scenes, the people, the stadiums, the hotels and the games he encountered during the Gold Cup.

The Nicaragua defender lived through an experience that will remain with him for a lifetime. He and his teammates participated in their first major international tournament.

The Pinoleros were eliminated from contention after three-straight shutout losses during Group C play. But taking part in such a competition was quite an accomplishment...one that Nicaraguan soccer had not witnessed before.

In Nicaragua, you see, baseball is king

Alonso doesn't play baseball when he's not dribbling a soccer ball as a leader of Nicaraguan team Chinandega VCP in his hometown of Chinandega. He doesn't usually pick up a bat, put on a glove or throw a hardball around.

But he still owes his achievements on the soccer field to baseball.

It was baseball that helped Alonso reach this stage in his soccer career and the opportunity to represent his nation against some of the best teams in the region.

Why baseball? How has the sport helped Alonso?

Ask Alonso and he usually answers with two words.

Vicente Padilla.

That's the man partially responsible for Alonso becoming one of Nicaragua's top players.

It is Vicente Padilla, the Major League Baseball pitcher of the Texas Rangers, who has sponsored Alonso throughout the soccer player's career.

Padilla owns the club for which Alonso plays, Chinandega VCP. The VCP is for Vicente de la Cruz Padilla.

"He's done a tremendous amount of work and charity for the soccer community in Chinandega," Alonso said of Padilla in Spanish. "He's a big soccer fan so he wanted to contribute with a team. He also helps some baseball leagues but his main project is our soccer club."

Chinandega VCP became possible after a mutual friend introduced Alonso and Padilla at a restaurant. Padilla asked Alonso to help launch the project.

Padilla founded the team. He writes the player's paychecks. He buys the equipment.

Padilla didn't immediately return a voice mail to his cell phone.

But why a soccer team and not baseball?

"Vicente's a huge soccer fan," Alonso said. "He's always wanted to have a team. He's always following what we are doing. He even said he wanted to come see us play in the Gold Cup but he was pitching the night before the Guadeloupe match."

Instead, Padilla kept tabs on the Nicaraguan national team via telephone. He even offered Alonso to make a trip to his home in Texas.

Alonso will probably pass up on the offer. He has his newborn baby girl, Maria Regina, waiting for him in Nicaragua. She was born July 3 while Alonso trained with Nicaragua in Brazil in preparation for the Gold Cup

It's a sacrifice Alonso might not regret.

After all, soccer is his life.

Like most soccer players in Nicaragua, Alonso had a rough start to his career.

There is hardly any support from local government or a structured system within the national federation.

Player salaries are minuscule. Alonso said most play for "peanuts." Players have to purchase their own cleats and other equipment in most cases.

There are players on the national team who work full or part-time jobs during the day and practice in the evening. Others train with the team in their spare time.

And when they travel as the national team, they don't get special treatment. No fancy hotels and charter flights. No equipment managers or personal assistants.

Nicaragua players carried their own bags and some pushed equipment carts after a training session in Oakland.

"Soccer has a long way to go in Nicaragua," Alonso said. "It needs help from private companies and the people who govern our states. There's plenty of interest in the sport. People just don't have the means to play."

Striker Samuel Wilson is one of the few who didn't have to work to afford soccer.

"Just like my teammates, I've come along way," Wilson said. "It's not common for soccer players to be successful in Nicaragua where baseball and boxing are the national sports. But we try to take advantage of the invitations we get and do things the best we can."

Things are starting to change.

"Soccer in Nicaragua has grown," said Nicaragua coach Otoniel Olivas in Spanish. "(The government) has begun to take notice. They have begun to help more and more and we hope they continue to do so."

Otoniel hopes their appearance in the Gold Cup helps the cause.

Alonso is confident it will despite not having success.

"The key to the future of Nicaraguan soccer is the national team," Alonso said. "It needs to be successful in tournaments like these to get the proper recognition and experience to be a real competitor."

Nicaragua will have to wait until the next Gold Cup or the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup.

For now, Alonso and his teammates will take the memories from this Gold Cup. They'll remember the stadiums, the cities and the people.

And Alonso can thank baseball for it.