For us this was very big because everybody saw Cuba as a smaller team. They thought of the other teams, greater teams, bigger teams, powerful. They thought we could never win against Venezuela, that we did not have any possibility or any chances. And here you have it. We know how to play under pressure.

This is the greatest victory in the history of Cuban baseball because our opponents were major-league players.

They have major-league players. So people know now that we can play against major-league players.

Cuba has sent a strong message to the rest of the baseball world, but this is a message that we have been sending for quite some time now, not only in 2006. Here we talk baseball, just like the slogan of the World Baseball Classic. And baseball is baseball, it doesn't matter the price paid to the athletes that play it.

I think this Classic is historic because it demonstrated that not only the players from the paid major leagues can carry the supremacy. We've demonstrated that what matters is sacrifice, human values and the effort you give on the field.

We are all amateur players, therefore playing against major league players is the greatest victory for us.

Our message is already out there from our international competitions. I think we showed people that baseball is spoken here, baseball and nothing else.

Santana did what he does best, he's a good pitcher and we were waiting for him to come back [out]. But then he was finished, he was taken out. They decided to take him out, but he had control over the way he was pitching.

I think the message has been delivered. Baseball is baseball in all parts of the world ? be it in the big leagues, be it amateur. You have to value baseball as such. It's not about the price of the player but the heart with which the baseball is played. Our team is a team that has fought for unity. The soul of our team is unity. There aren't any stars.