ANCUD (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019) - In the first window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers, Chile suffered a loss against Brazil and then captured deserved victory against Colombia, thanks to the work of players like Sebastián Suarez, who was decisive for the Chileans in the most important moments of the game in Medellin.

"The qualifiers were a wonderful experience. It was very good to play with rival players here in the national league and to get to know them a little better. I really liked that there where many young players. That raised the quality of our competitiveness a lot," said Sebastián.

The Chileans began their qualifying campaign for the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Osorno.

"Osorno for years has been a city with a lot of tradition and history in basketball. I believe that games like this should be done in the south, because basketball is lived to the fullest. Full gyms, fans, bands, flags, chants. What we lived in Osorno I think it was something special. Many people, including fans from other clubs, came from different cities to support La Roja, including many with the shirt of the Chilean national soccer team. Also, what impressed and moved me the most, which I think does not happen elsewhere, was the national anthem. When the audio was cut and the audience finished the hymn at the top of their lungs. The atmosphere that we lived was incredible," admitted Suarez.

"Brazil is Brazil. And what we did as a team has been the best we've seen in years. I think we played them equally for several quarters. With my experiences as a player of the national team, I had never seen Brazil ask for timeouts in a third or fourth quarter against a team like Chile. Brazil asked for timeouts, even a couple of technical fouls were called against them. That means that the game was not easy, it cost them a lot. What I saw from the outside, was that we entered the game to win, but still with a little respect. But in the third quarter when Brazil got a bigger advantage, we kind of let go more as we were down by 20 points and that was the moment when we played more freely and with more confidence. I think that if we had played like that since the initial jump, maybe we would steal that game," said the player who plays for Ancud in the Chilean National League.

"We knew that Colombia was a direct rival of ours and that's why we were so eager to beat them. Besides that, we were out for vengeance, because they beat us at the last South American Championship. The coaching staff and we the players, read the match very well. We knew what the match was going to be like before we played it. We knew that Colombia plays a little messy, that they have very athletic players, who fight hard for offensive rebounds. We had to make them play in order, at our own pace, without allowing them many attacks. We also knew that we had to block a lot to avoid them second chances. We also bet on defending Michael Jackson, who is their main offensive weapon," Suarez said of the game played in Medellin.

Sebastián added 20 points and 5 rebounds in 31 minutes of action against the Colombians.

"We as players came well, concentrated to give everything for Chile, that hunger cannot change," Suarez concluded.

In the February 2018 window, the Chileans will travel to Venezuela to face the Vinotinto on February 22 and will then travel to Brazil to play as visitors on February 25.

FIBA