MEXICO CITY (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers) - Mexico will host Argentina next Friday at Olympic Gymnasium Juan de la Barrera in the Federal District in a sold-out event for the second round of Group E of the Americas Qualifiers, where teams will seek the necessary wins to qualify for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. The stage for this encounter seat 5,242 people and there are no more tickets up for sale. Mexico defeated the United States there in their last encounter as locals, in a historic result for the 12 Warriors.

For the Argentines, led by Sergio Hernández, there was an unexpected loss — Roberto Acuña suffered a first-grade muscle injury of his left leg’s hamstring. His place was covered by guard Luciano González. “I'm very happy. It was a surprise to be called and I will make the best out of this opportunity", he stated.

Patricio Garino will also be unavailable due to an injury and his place will be covered by Gabriel Deck, who was recently signed by powerful Spanish club Real Madrid.The squad, then, is now formed by Facundo Campazzo, Nicolás Laprovittola, Luca Vildoza, Máximo Fjllerup, Eric Flor, Gabriel Deck, Nicolás Brussino, Franco Giorgetti, Luis Scola, Javier Saiz, Marcos Delía and Luciano González.

Gabriel Deck - Argentina vs Mexico - FIBA AmeriCup 2017

“We arrived four days before our match against Mexico. It's a key match. We don't know if it's going to be easy or difficult. There's no way of telling anymore beforehand if we are winning again. This is a tremendous final stage, and this is the only qualifying tournament where we have secured the Euroleague players, because it will be difficult to do so afterward. We know how Mexico generally is and, in this case, they must win because they're playing at home. They always fill the stadiums to the maximum capacity. The court will be full and that's good,” - Sergio Hernandez, head coach of Argentina

“The Qualifiers are an advantage because that means that globally [people] are watching more basketball. The national teams play in their country and the previous tournament was once a year and was too short,” he added.

As for the other side, the team coached by Iván Déniz is counting on Gustavo Ayón, who will wear the Mexican jersey for the second time in these Americas Qualifiers. The center is the leader in rebounds, with an average of 12 rebounds per game; while Pako Cruz is the greatest scorer, with an average of 26 points per game.

 Among the selected team members is small forward Lucas Martínez, as well as center Lorenzo Mata, and point guard Paul Stoll. However, there are important absences, such as point guard Jorge Gutiérrez’s, who was not summoned because of his recent knee surgery; Mexicali Soles player Carlos Pérez, who just had a son; and small forward Juan Toscano, due to personal reasons. Like this, the list of 18 players is made up by point guards Paul Stoll, Álex Pérez, José Estrada and Víctor Álvarez; guards Francisco Cruz, Orlando Méndez and Gabriel Girón, Jr.; small forwards Irwin Ávalos, Lucas Martínez and Jaime Jaquez, Jr.; power forwards Jonathan Machado and Arim Solares; and centers Gustavo Ayón, Lorenzo Mata, Israel Gutiérrez, Fernando Benítez, Joaquín Villanueva and Israel Nolasco. Déniz which 12 players will be a part of the definitive squad for the qualifying games of next Thursday.

“They all are committed to be there, including Gustavo, to whom I've been speaking to the most. He wants to be until the end of the concentration. He's very committed,”- Ivan Deniz, head coach of Mexico.

 The captain of the Argentine team, Luis Scola, leads in points with 18.0 in average, 7.6 in rebounds; while Campazzo is the best in assists, with 9.5. Meanwhile, Cruz is the leader in scores for the opposite team with 26.0; and Ayón leads in rebounds with 12.0 and in assists with 6.5.

Argentina rounds up 11 points and leads —alongside the United States— Group E with 5 victories and just one defeat, while the “12 Warriors” rank up 9 points (3 victories and 3 losses) and are in last place, a spot they currently share with Panama.

The albicelestes defeated Panama 87-62 and Uruguay 102-58, while the Mexicans are coming to this duel with the historic 78-70 victory against the United States over their shoulders, and the 84-79 defeat against Puerto Rico.

On Monday the 17th, Argentina will close the double-date in Formosa against Puerto Rico, and the Mexicans will travel to Montevideo to face Uruguay.

These will be the two first encounters of the second stage of this new format, which will qualify seven teams from the continent to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 (the best three teams of each group and the best overall fourth).

FIBA