MADRID (Spain) - Since entering the Spanish national team, Ricky Rubio has claimed multiple Olympic and FIBA EuroBasket medals, but he is yet to climb the podium at a FIBA Basketball World Cup. 

Spain won the event in 2006, but Rubio was busy putting up 51 points, 24 rebounds, 12 assists and 7 steals in the Final of the FIBA U16 European Championship that summer. Dominant in his age group would be an understatement, it was obvious that Rubio will soon make headlines with the senior national team.

It happened in 2008, when he made his debut at the Beijing Olympics, playing 29 minutes in the Final against USA. The point guard went on to win the FIBA EuroBasket twice, secured two more bronze medals at the same level, and was part of the Spanish team which finished third in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

But, in 2010 and 2014 he could not help Spain win a medal at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. Fast forward to 2019, and Rubio is keen to right the wrong and challenge for the top step of the podium.

"I see a lot of teams (in the medal hunt). It used to be the US team and one of the other generations, like Spain or Argentina, who can play toe-to-toe with them. Now we have a lot of countries who can compete. Not just to play in the Final. But also to beat USA. Spain, of course, but also France, Australia...a lot of good teams out there who can compete and win the gold medal," Rubio said, ready for his third go at the world summit.

"It was like watching a movie. We would know that in the end US will win. Lately, it seems that the movie has changed in the ending. Now we have a deeper show, and you don't know what to expect in the end. Anything can happen."

For the first time since 1999, Spain will be without either one of the iconic trio of Pau Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro and Sergio Rodriguez, and both Nikola Mirotic and Serge Ibaka are also out for the summer. Rubio had no doubts about joining the team, emphasizing once again how much the national team means to him.

"Putting the jersey on with the national team, playing along with Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro, Rudy Fernandez, it was like, 'I made it!' I'm one of the 12 best players in my country. And I'm not just playing for 'Rubio,' for me or my family, I'm playing for the whole country that's watching us and cheering for us. I remember watching the World Cup and the Olympic Games as a kid, and saying 'Spain are playing. We are playing.' When you are playing for the national team, it's not just the 12 guys playing. It's 'we' playing. The whole country," the 28-year-old Phoenix Suns point guard explained.

Rubio and Spain will play the first part of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in Guangzhou, against Iran, Puerto Rico and Tunisia in Group C. If they finish in the top two of the group, they will move to Wuhan, to take on the top two of Group D, where Serbia, Italy, Angola and Philippines are set to battle it out on the court.

FIBA