In this context, Mariano Marcos, coordinator of the national training teams, spoke with Misiones Sports about the classification of the Argentina U-18 National Team for the 2023 World Cup. In addition, he highlighted the current situation of Argentine women’s basketball and highlighted the work of the girls in the last moment.
“The reality of women’s basketball compared to men’s in Argentina is not the same. Obviously in the men’s branch, we are practically a power, being the last runners-up in the world, and we played the last Olympics, ”she commented.
“On the other hand, women’s basketball has never played an Olympic Games, nor did it qualify for the last World Cup. The same thing happens in the training categories, where the female branch has to row a lot, ”she explained.
Marcos pointed out that this work that has been carried out in the training categories has been going on for some time, and that it aims to improve in various areas of the country.
“A clear example of this growth is Misiones, which until a few years ago had about three teams and today has almost 20 competing. It is something that is spreading throughout the country, ”he stressed.
To reflect this growth, the national team coordinator highlighted the participation of some U-17 and U-16 players, who were part of the U-18 squad that qualified for the World Cup, highlighting the difference in age and physique with respect to their teammates and rivals.
“It’s all very uphill for us, so a bronze in a FIBA Americas is practically becoming champions, because you can’t compete with the United States and Canada. We are happy with the project we have, thinking of being able to compete against the Europeans again in a few years”, he reflected.
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In this same sense, Marcos attributed the credit for the achievement to all the sacrifice and work carried out by the girls, who have been preparing since the beginning of the year for this FIBA championship.
“We were training from January 15 to February 21 at CENARD. There were 42 days of double shift, from Monday to Sunday, something that they do not have in their clubs. That was one of the keys,” he commented.
“Already in March we trained again until the South American U-18 that was played in April where we came out runners-up and now we get together three weeks before the AmeriCup. Now we have 3 days off and then seven of them join us to play the U-17 World Cup in Hungary in 15 days”.
Finally, regarding Argentina’s participation in this world cup, Marcos commented that it is very difficult to compete at this level. “Reaching a World Cup is very good for us and the expectations are high. In the first phase we will have Australia, France and Slovenia, who are tough rivals”, he warned.
The best eight will qualify to decide the champion, while the rest of the participants will compete for ninth place.
“That’s where our tournament begins: trying to get as high as possible. Reaching 13th or 14th is very good, but getting into the top ten would be historic because it hasn’t been achieved for many years”.
“We are going with a group with a lot of work and we hope that his head is ready for the challenge,” he concluded.
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