Cuba Hopes to Win World Baseball Classic

HAVANA TIMES — Cuban baseball coach Jorge Fuentes said in Havana that the island’s team possesses the “quality” to win the World Baseball Classic III. He spoke following a tour by the national team’s lineup to Mexico, Taiwan and Japan, reports the AFP.

“I think we’re in a position to win the Classic. We had pretty good performances in (preparatory) games in Asia and the Americas,” said Fuentes – the winningest manager in Cuban baseball.

The head coach considered it very important for the Cuban Baseball Federation to succeed at organizing other games with teams from Japan or the US majors prior to the Classic.

“Everything is difficult in Asia. We can’t go there being so confident, we have to approach it with the full necessary rigor, arriving with sufficient time (…) to be able to play at our best and adapt to the time zone,” he added.

The Cuban team, which holds 25 Olympic and three world titles, lost to Japan in the final game of the first Classic and were defeated by them twice in the quarterfinals of the second WBC.