ARG – Proud papa Delfino rejoins NT

MADRID (Olympics) - Carlos Delfino has rejoined Argentina’s national team as the father of twins.

The 29-year-old, a member of the gold-medal winning Argentina side at the Athens Games and the bronze-medal winning team in Beijing, was given a week off by coach Julio Lamas to be with his wife, Martina, in Bologna, Italy, for the birth of Carlos and Cecilia.

The new Delfinos entered the world on Tuesday.

Everything turned out well and I am really pleased,” Delfino said in Madrid, Spain, where Argentina are preparing for the Olympics.

“I thank Julio and the team for understanding my situation and my wife for allowing me to escape (laughs) to join the national team.

“I didn’t feel like leaving them, but I love what I do and it’s wonderful to be here.

“I am committed to the national team. It was difficult but I had to return.”

Delfino isn’t the first member of Argentina’s national team to become a father of twins.

The wives of veteran guard Manu Ginobili and assistant coach (former head coach) Sergio Hernandez also gave birth to twins.

“I am chuffed because I was there at the birth and now Sergio and Manu, who have had this experience, have already begun to give me advice about twins,” Delfino said.

Delfino, a player with the Milwaukee Bucks, had successful surgery on 3 May to repair a sports hernia related to a right groin injury that plagued in the final weeks of the NBA season.

Argentina will take on the United States in a friendly in Barcelona on 22 July.

At the Olympics, the Argentinians will play in Group A with Lithuania, Tunisia, Nigeria, France and Team USA.

FIBA