Havana, November 11 (JIT) -- The Cuban team will face Mexico this Saturday in the last semifinal of the I Norceca Men's Under-17 Men's Championship of Veracruz 2023, hosted at the Miguel Hidalgo gymnasium in the town of Poza Rica. 

The students of Mario Izquierdo and former player Lian Sen Estrada reached this phase after taking second place in Group B, thanks to victories over Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. They suffered a setback against Puerto Rico, the undefeated winner of that group.

The host team had to beat Guatemala (25-16, 25-21, 25-21) to get their fourth consecutive victory and the leadership of Pool A, and will fight tonight against the Cubans to reach the final in front of their own fans.

Costa Rica swept their two Friday matches against Honduras and Suriname to finish second in the preliminary round of Pool A with a 3-1 record. They will face the Puerto Ricans in the first Saturday semifinal.

If they prevail in their duels, Cubans and Puerto Ricans will dispute the gold with a taste of revenge, as the former fell in the elimination round in a hard-fought match that went to tie-break (25-20, 24-26, 17-25, 25-22, 16-18).

Notwithstanding the semifinal results, the four teams involved have tickets to the first world championship of the category, scheduled for 2024, according to the website of the Norceca confederation.

The penultimate round will include matches between the Dominican Republic and Guatemala (third in their respective groups), and Nicaragua and Suriname (fourth). The loser of the latter match will face Honduras on Sunday for the eighth place.