BUENOS AIRES (Argentina) - Brazil will play the second window of the FIBA AmeriCup 2022 Qualifiers with players within the Brazilian league with the exception of Caio Pacheco, a point guard who plays for Argentinian league team Weber Bahía Basket. Pacheco will have the opportunity to debut for the senior team of the Amazon country. 

"I am very excited. I have always worked, and I continue to work, to get to this. I want to enjoy it to the fullest, it is something that I have always dreamed of and that does not happen every day. It is very nice to have the opportunity to play for your country's national team," says Pacheco, a 21-year-old 1.90m point guard, who doesn't want to waste the opportunity that coach Aleksandar Petrovic gives him. 

"I hope to be up to the task, to do a good job and little by little to be able to earn a place in the senior team. Brazil has great players, so I will have good competition. I have to be very hard on defense if I want to win a place," says Pacheco who wants Brazil (2-0) to remain undefeated in their transition to the next AmeriCup. "I am focused on doing what they ask of me and working hard like I always have. The most important thing is to get the two victories," adds Pacheco.

He feels additional confidence because the window is played in Argentina, a country that he considers his second home. "For me it is great news. I have lived here the past three years in Argentina and it is already my second home; and playing at home is always special. It's going to be very nice."

The NBA, a dream without pressure 

Pacheco was set to enter the 2020 NBA Draft list but decided to withdraw his name and postpone his destiny until 2021. Within this year, he hopes to continue working hard and reap the fruits of his effort. 

"I am a person who likes to give the best of themselves every day and think little about the future because nobody knows what can happen. To tell you that I don't have dreams would be hypocritical of me, I do have dreams and they are very big. But today I'll only think about doing a good job with the national team. Then I hope the tournament will resume in Argentina and defend the Bahia shirt. Working hard on a daily basis is what will define what may happen in the future. So I take things calmly and without any added weight," says Pacheco, who could join a list of Brazilian legends such as Marcelo Huertas and Raúl Neto, whom he grew up admiring.

"Marcelinho is someone I have idolized for a long time. I have watched their games since I was very little. I saw him play with Barcelona, ​​with the Lakers, this weekend I saw the great game he had with Tenerife. However, my style of play is different, it resembles Raulzinho a little more because of his aggressiveness towards the basket."

FIBA