Duro announces Venezuela's preliminary list, expects hard battles for China 2019 ticket
CARACAS (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers) - Fernando Duró and Venezuela will face the start of the Americas Qualifiers Second Round knowing that a great window will approach Venezuela to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 ticket.
With a goal and a plan established, Duro announced the preliminary list for the fourth window of the Qualifiers.
| Venezuela's Preliminary pool for September Window | |||
| Luis Bethelmy | Elder Gimenez | Yohanner Sifontes | Pedro Chourio |
| Windi Graterol | Gregory Vargas | Nestor Colmenares | Heissler Guillent |
| Jose Vargas | David Cubillan | Dwight Lewis | Jhornan Zamora |
| Cesar Garcia | Miguel Ruiz | ||
Fernando Duró, coach of the Venezuelan National Team, spoke with FIBA.basketball about the past, present and future of the Vinotinto.
Venezuela finished the first Round of the Americas Qualifiers with the first position of its Group. What balance do you make about the first six games?
I think it was better than we expected, as the games and the windows were running, we were reformulating the team, and as the eligible players could be present in the third window, we had the most competitive team we had, and we made an excellent third window facing Brazil and Chile. Something that opened the expectations of the team and the fans, that match against Brazil gave us the possibility of not only winning in a dominant way, but also added a great advantage in the tie. We have to keep adjusting our defensive aspect.
How will the team approach the next window of the Qualifiers?
We have two home games, we know that if we want to reach the FIBA Basketball World Cup we have to win both games. I think we are going to go upward, in the quantity and quality of players we are going to face.
During the second round they will also face Canada, what can we expect from that confrontation?
We have to see what team Canada will bring. The truth is, what we expect is to win at home and when they play at home they will be a very competitive team. We hope to be up to the circumstances and have as many players as possible.
Currently Venezuela is in a great position to achieve the qualification to the FIBA Basketball World Cup, what has to happen to make it happen?
The most important thing is to win the home games and if we can also win one as a visit, it would be a giant step to ensure qualification and the return of Venezuela to the World Cup.
FIBA
