Team Cuba Advances To The World Baseball Classic Semifinals

On Wednesday, Cuban Team advanced to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) semifinals for the first time since 2006, after defeating the Australian team (4-3) at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.

The Cuban team, in which major league players compete for the first time, will play in Miami on Sunday against the winner of the quarter-final match between Venezuela and the team that comes second in Group C, which could be Mexico, United States, Canada, or Colombia.

“Our aim is going to the final, and now we have a chance to do so… we will do our best in Miami,” the Cuban team’s manager Armando Johnson said.

This victory is a turnaround for Team Cuba, which lost against the Netherlands and Italy before competing with Australia in this WBC.

“The first couple of games were difficult to play. But we got through it and clinched a spot in the semifinal. Hopefully, we will move to the finals too,” Cuban right fielder Yoelkis Guibert said.

A the 5th UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (#LDC5) held in Qatar, #Cuba, in its condition as chair of the G-77 + China, ratified the Group’s commitment to the effective implementation of the Doha Programme of Action for #LDCs.
1/3 pic.twitter.com/hylVBeTER8

— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP)
March 10, 2023

Cuban player Raidel Martinez, who pitches for the Chunichi Dragons in Nippon Professional Baseball, tie broke the game with the Australian team, which a fervent fanbase supported.

“I would like to show my respect to Team Australia. It had a great starting pitcher. But, at the same time, our players did a great job,” Johnson pointed out, adding that Cuban fans are very emotional.

“We all have been waiting for this victory for a long time. In Cuba, people love baseball. Its enthusiasm cheered us so well. Such a victory is the new page, a new chapter that allows us to go forward,” the Cuban manager stressed.

During a meeting in Bogota, Colombian President Gustavo Petro asked U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that Cuba be removed from the list of “States Sponsors of Terrorism.” pic.twitter.com/GeWVSaTA8o

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish)
October 4, 2022