For Cote d'Ivoire, it's all about winning all remaining World Cup Qualifiers games

ABIDJAN (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers) - Cote d'Ivoire forward Guy Edi has played in a FIBA Basketball World Cup before, and that is one of the reasons that keep him motivated for the remainder of Africa's World Cup Qualifiers. 

And although the Ivoirians won't resume their Group F campaign until February 2019, the 29-year-old has issued a message for teammates, Cote d'Ivoire basketball officials, and supporters.

"We have to focus on ourselves," he warned.

So far, Guy Edi averages 10 points and 6 rebounds in six African Qualifiers games

After beating Rwanda and Mali early this month in Lagos, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire improved their World Cup Qualifiers aspirations to an encouraging 4-5 mark with three games remaining.  

Realistically speaking, Edy notes, it's going to be difficult to finish second in Group F because of Senegal's 7-2 record, let alone win the group.

So, the Ivorians will look to become the best third-placed team in Africa's World Cup Qualifiers in order to return to the FIBA Basketball World Cup for the first time since 2010.

And the man who led Cote d'Ivoire in scoring (ten points per game) in Turkey 2010  hopes to do everything in his power to make his dream come true.

 “We have to win games. You can’t worry about who is winning, who is not," Edi explained.

“In the next window [February 2019], we need to get three wins out of three, if we want to have a chance to get the best-third-place [in the African Qualifiers]."

Edi says they had just one effective day of real practice before facing hosts Nigeria, Rwanda, and Mali, and given the circumstances, returning home with a 2-1 was a positive outcome.

"It shows that with a week together to get a bit of cohesion we could have done better than what we did. And, maybe, we could have got the game against Nigeria.

“We gave our best and we learned from that game. We used it in the next two games. We are satisfied because the guys gave all for the team. Nobody complained about his playing time. We should come to the next window with the same attitude, and, maybe get three [wins]. We look forward to getting the three."

A supporter of FIBA's new competition system, Edi, who last played for Nantes in France's PRO B, admits "that’s good for Africa to show that we can play basketball here too. It doesn’t always to be Nigeria, Angola. There are teams that have a lot of talent. If the federations really help their teams as they do to football, we can show that we can represent our countries well." 

Edi congratulated both Nigeria and Tunisia, the first two African teams to qualify for China 2019, but admitted, "at the end of the day, it’s about us."

FIBA