ANG - Costa: "In Spain to win games"

LUANDA (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Minutes after Angola beat Cote d'Ivoire in the Semi-Final of AfroBasket 2013, Angolan guard Armando Costa revealed the key to their success came after their tough defense on the Ivorian playmaker Souleymane Diabate in the second half.

Diabate scored 11 points in the game's first two quarters, but missed all his shots the rest of the way due as he faced double-teams, Costa said at the time.

Last week, FIBA.com asked Costa whether he would be have the same success when Angola take on Slovenia's Goran Dragic or Australia's Patty Mills in Group D of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

"I am never tasked to stop A, B or C. It is not an individual thing. We switch our defense permanently throughout the game. This is how we succeeded at AfroBasket 2013, and we hope to keep this defense system in Spain," he said.

"They are both very skilled players. Our defense game is based on a team effort rather than man-to-man."

Angola secured one of the three places on offer for African teams for Spain 2014, after beating Egypt in the Final of the African Championship.

Costa averaged 6.1 points and 2.9 assists per game, and he is tipped to make his second appearance at FIBA's flagship event, his first since 2006.

"It is always an enormous pride to bear the Angolan flag among the best in the world," he said.

"One day I'll be proud to tell my children that I played against top players in the world like Kobe Bryant, Manu Ginobili, Yao Ming or the golden generation of Spain."

Angola have been drawn in Group D, which will be played in Gran Canaria, alongside Australia, Korea, Mexico, Lithuania, Mexico and Slovenia.

"It is a balanced group," Costa offered.

"Lithuania and Slovenia are clearly the toughest opponents in the pool, but Mexico, Australia and Korea will be interesting teams to play against."

Angola, 11-time African champions, have not missed a World Championship since 1998. Their best result was a ninth-place finish in Japan 2006, where Costa made his world stage bow.

"We are going to Spain 2014 to improve our ranking in the tournament," he explained.

"We are no longer the team that shows up at the world stage just to make up numbers.

"We have been around for so long, and that is the reason we are proud to say that we are going to Spain to win games, qualify for the second round and go as far as possible.

"We may not have the same international media coverage as some of the teams qualified to Spain, but we are just as good," said the 30-year-old who plays for Angolan giants Primeiro D'Agosto.

The Angola men's national team last played in front of their home fans when they hosted AfroBasket 2007. But it has not stopped them from organising groups of followers who have travelled throughout the African continent to support their heroes.

Can they follow the team to Spain?

"There is a large Angolan community in the diaspora, particularly in Portugal, Spain, France and the United Kingdom and we are going to count with their support," Costa replied.

"There are weekly flights between Luanda and Madrid and I am sure some Angola based fans will follow us to Spain too."

FIBA