Miami, United States, Mar 16 (Prensa Latina) After a long flight from Tokyo, Japan, the Cuban baseball team arrived today in this city with the purpose of facing the semifinal phase of the V World Classic, whose opponent will come out of the United States-Venezuela match.
Without wasting time and barely resting, the so-called Team Asere began the journey in the early hours of Thursday morning, after defeating Australia (4-3) to secure a place in the prelude to the discussion of the title.
Until further information on their schedule in the southern city, it is known that the players will have several hours of rest before returning to the field in order to maintain their physical fitness and work on technical and tactical details.
Still to be confirmed is the possibility of playing against a Major League Baseball franchise that is carrying out “Spring Training” for the 2023 season, which will have its “Opening Day” on March 30.
After an uncertain and unpromising start, the island’s performance broke the molds of imagination, with an almost unfading resilience, which will have another chapter in three days, with the glory of two baseball games.
Under the aegis of manager Armando Johnson, the national team started the event with defeats against the Netherlands (2-4) and Italy (3-6) before turning history on its head and defeating Panama (7-1) and Taipei of China (13-4) in Group A of the balls and strikes competition.
The tie-breaker system left the Antilleans at the top of the group and they took advantage of the tie-breaker system to get past the Australians in the quarter-final match staged at the Tokyo Dome.
In exclusive statements to Prensa Latina, Johnson, 64, thanked the people of Cuba for following the team’s performance and stressed that “we have not finished yet, but we have already advanced a good part” on the way to LoanDepot Park, venue of the epilogue of the tournament.
The Caribbean nation will be for the second time in the semifinal of the most prestigious tournament among nations, as it was present in the dispute for the crown of the founding edition in 2006, when it lost 6-10 to Japan.
(Taken from PL)
