Venezuela 🇻🇪 completes the semifinal lineup in the World Baseball Classic by defeating Japan 🇯🇵

Yesterday was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the six World Baseball Classics played so far. We made a statement, as our national team eliminated the reigning champion, Japan, with an 8-5 victory, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament and, not only that, but also qualifying for the next Olympic Games. Defeating Japan, who had won three of the previous five editions, is a significant leap forward for Venezuela. They came from behind, with Wilyer Abreu hitting a three-run homer to take the lead, which proved decisive. The bullpen is undoubtedly our strongest asset, and yesterday they demonstrated this by not allowing any openings, surprisingly securing their place in the semifinals (even for some Venezuelans).

Now we await tomorrow's game against Italy, a team that has undoubtedly left everyone wondering where such a strong squad came from. Most of the coaching staff are Venezuelan (holding dual citizenship), so it will certainly be exciting to see an open and difficult game to predict. I haven't seen any of their games, so I don't know much, but I believe without a doubt that Venezuela is the slight favorite and could finally reach the World Baseball Classic final, something that has eluded them in previous editions.

I'm signing off, but not before thanking you for the opportunity to have a space here in the #Hive ecosystem, like the #SportsBlock community, where we can chat a bit about the sports we love so much.