SAN JUAN (FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers 2019) -- It carries the name of one of the most significant figures of Puerto Rican sports history, and since its opening it has been the venue of a wide variety of sports events that have marked the island's history.

For four decades, Roberto Clemente Coliseum has become the home of the Puerto Rican National Team. The facilities located in the Hato Rey sector of San Juan, right next to Hiram Bithorn Stadium, is named after someone who, for many people, is the most recognized sports figure in Puerto Rico and one of the best players in baseball history: Roberto Clemente.

The coliseum opened in 1973 and its first event was a concert by the Fania All-Stars. But at a sports level, the facility has been the venue of a hefty number of events that wrote several chapters in Puerto Rican and international sports history.

The first large tournament that took place there was the 1973 Centrobasket, where Puerto Rico achieved their first gold medal in this regional event. This also served as a preview of what was the 1974 Basketball World Cup, where Yugoslavia took home the gold.

Years later, in 1979, San Juan welcomed the Pan American Games, and the Coliseum was the stage for several games of the basketball tournaments, that featured the now classic final between the United States (that brought players like Isiah Thomas and Kevin McHale) and Puerto Rico (with Raymond Dalmau, Angelo Cruz, Rubén Rodríguez, and others).

Later, in 1980, the facility saw the beginnings of the FIBA Americas Tournament (nowadays, FIBA AmeriCup), which at first served as a qualifier tournament to the Olympics for the continent’s national teams.

In the following years, the Roberto Clemente Coliseum hosted another Centrobasket (1981) and several FIBA Americas Tournaments (1993, 1999, 2003 and 2009). In fact, in 1999 and 2003, the United States participated in these tournaments with rosters comprised of NBA players. In 1983, Michael Jordan played in the Coliseum as part of a friendly game between USA and Puerto Rico before the Pan American Games of that year.

Perhaps one of the most sublime moments in Puerto Rican basketball happened at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament of 2003, when in the game for the bronze, center José “Piculín” Ortiz played one of the most remembered performances at an international level, with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and 7 blocks in the Puerto Rican victory against Canada, which gave the boricuas the ticket to the Olympic Games in Athens.

Other events that have taken place at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum have been tournaments such as the Tuto Marchand Cup, with a mural at the entrance of the arena of the late legendary FIBA Americas President, Secretary General and Secretary General Emeritus, along with the all-time great Puerto Rican players that he oversaw as national federation president from 1978 to 1988.

Now, this week, the Roberto Clemente Coliseum will host three games of the third qualifying window to the FIBA Basketball World Cup. The Puerto Ricans will play two games as locals against Cuba and Mexico. The venue will also feature a match between the US Virgin Islands and the Bahamas. In Puerto Rico’s case, the Clemente Coliseum will welcome its National Team for the first time since 2015 (Tuto Marchand Cup), and in terms of official games, these will be the first since 2009 (World Cup Qualifiers).

Adding up to the local games that have taken place at the Clemente Coliseum, the Puerto Rico Senior Men’s team has a 53-21 record when taking into account the FIBA Americas tournaments, the 1979 Pan American Games, the 1974 World Cup, the Central American and Caribbean Games, Centrobasket, and the Tuto Marchand Cup.

FIBA