Puerto Rico-Mexico:  Will the salsa or the matraca sound?

Miami, March 17 (Prensa Latina)-- Puerto Rico and Mexico will be rivals today in pursuit of defining the first qualifier of the groups played in America to the semifinals in the V World Baseball Classic.

The Mexicans have been in all the previous editions, but they never made it to the semifinals for the title of world champions, and for that they relied on the quality of the stellar Julio Urias as starter.

I am happy for what has been achieved so far, but not at all satisfied. We took the first step, but we still have three more steps to take," said manager Benjamín Gil.

The Tricolor fell in their first match against eliminated Colombia, but they got back on track and finished as group C leader, thanks to the contribution of Cuban nationalized Randy Arozarena, Alex Verdugo, Joey Meneses and Rowdy Tellez, mainly.

Gil arrives with a thirst for revenge, as he was the pilot who failed in the last Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where his team lost all its matches.

Unlike the Mexicans, the Puerto Ricans will live their third consecutive finals, and come from reaching the runner-up positions in the 2013 and 2017 editions, when they lost to the Dominican Republic and the United States, respectively.

Team Rubio is not undefeated either, since they lost to Venezuela, but they are back on track and have grown after winning the do-or-die match against the Dominicans.

Experience is on their side, but it will be at LoanDepot Park in Florida where it will be known whether the Caribbean salsa will resound or the stands will shake with the strident rattle of the country of the Aztecs.