OLAVARRIA (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers) - Before the start of the second window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifiers, Uruguayan point guard Bruno Fitipaldo shares what he feels of playing once again with Argentina, a country he knows well because of his experience in the national league with team Obras Sanitarias.

Today, with a successful current participation in the Italian league’s S.S. Felice Scandone, he is sure that the Uruguayan National Team will be able to get good results in this stage, as well the desired ticket to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China.

“The team is doing good. We're trying to prepare the two games as fast as we can because we're all from different places and that's something that happens to all national teams. We're very excited,” confided Fitipaldo, who reached third place with the Uruguayan National Team in the 2016 South American Tournament in Venezuela.

Fitipaldo, who developed in Malvin —a club in which he played until he moved overseas in 2014— played two seasons in Obras, and in the most recent edition of the Argentine National Basketball League averaged 11.2 points and 4.6 assists per game.

“The game against Argentina is the most difficult of the series, most of all because we play as visitors. They have a game system in place for many years, they know each other well and have quality players. If we want to have chances, we must control them in the defense and try to play a game with a low score, as well as to make the most of the virtues we have. In the key moments of the game, we have to be consistent and positive. I know all of the Argentine players; I've played against and with them. To play once again against them will remind me of all that past.”FitipaldoFitipaldo

In his beginnings, Fitipaldo played soccer and later changed to basketball because he liked it better and wanted to play for the National Team. Today, he is the undisputed captain of the Charrúa National Team. About the new qualifying format, he said: “We're getting used to the new Qualifiers format. For Uruguay it's quite positive, it favors us and allows us to use players to the max for five days without suffering the exhaustion of a long tournament, which clearly affected us.”

Uruguay will play their two games as visitors; first, on Friday against Argentina in the city of Olavarria; and then, on Sunday against Panama, at Roberto Durán Stadium.

FIBA