The Japanese avenged two prior losses to previously unbeaten South Korea with a 6-0 victory here Saturday in the World Baseball Classic to book a date in Monday's final against Cuba, who eliminated the Dominican Republic 3-1.

"I believe this team is probably the strongest team Japan ever had against Cuba," Japan manager Sadaharu Oh said. "We can show a great performance against Cuba on Monday. Win or lose we'll play with a lot of heart and a lot of pride."

The championship game of the first global tournament featuring Major League Baseball players will include only two major leaguers, Japanese outfielder Ichiro Suzuki and pitcher Akinori Otsuka, and Communist Cuba's amateur dynasty.

"This is a revolutionary team," Cuban outfielder Frederich Cepeda said. "Baseball is not judged by the price of the athletes but the heart of the people."

The Cubans advanced to the final of an international tournament for the 37th time in a row, a streak that includes titles in 19 of 20 World Cups and three of four Olympics. Cuba last finished outside the top two at the 1951 World Cup.

"The world has been waiting for this day," Cuba's Yoandy Garlobo said. "We've done it not only for the world but for Cuba, to show the world baseball is baseball."

US major league millionaires were ousted in the second round, a humbling 2-1 loss Thursday to Mexico sending surprised Japan into the semi-finals instead.

The Japanese made the most of the second chance despite most of their major league stars, including New York Yankee Hideki Matsui and a host of pitchers, rejecting overtures to represent their nation against the world's best.

Cubans waited decades to prove themselves against wealthy major leaguers and sweated out a US Treasury Department decision in January allowing them to play despite US sanctions against their political rivals.

"For all of us, it has been a matter of great pride to play against teams of this standing and top quality," winning pitcher Pedro Lazo said. "We're very proud of oursleves and our performance. It feels wonderful."

Facing a Dominican lineup composed entirely of major league superstars, the Communists left no doubt that their finest players can conquer wealthy US foes.

"I can see why they dominated internationally," Dominican manager Manny Acta said. "Those are big-league pitchers. Their pitching is legit. That's why they beat us."

Major leaguers are preparing for the start of their season and might not be at their peak but Dominican manager Manny Acta rejected that as an excuse against a Cuban team that halted its season to play in the Classic.

"Everybody who had the desire to play prepared themselves for this tournament," Acta said. "Our guys saw enough pitches. They had enough at-bats. No excuses."

Japanese starting pitcher Koji Uehara, a 30-year-old right-hander for the Tokyo Giants, struck out eight Korean batters and allowed only three hits in seven scoreless innings for the victory before a crowd of 42,639.

Kosuke Fukudome smashed a two-run homer to spark a five-run seventh inning and Hitoshi Tamura added a solo homer in the sixth as Japan routed the Asian rivals and set up the showdown with Cuba.

"The Cuban team has a lot of skilled players," Fukudome said. "We need to be very careful with what we do because we won't be able to score a lot of runs against them."