It's carnaval for Brazil with their World Cup qualification

ST. THOMAS (FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Qualifiers 2019) — Brazil stamped their passport to the FIBA World Cup 2019 and are now, along with the United States, one of the only countries that have participated in all editions of the world tournament that this year celebrates its 18th edition.

A great victory against the Virgin Islands, 104-80, gave them the third position in Group F with a record of 8 wins and 3 losses. Now, with Venezuela and Canada in the same group, and Argentina and the United States in Group E, they have reached their goal and are the fifth qualified team to China.

Croatian coach Aleksandar Petrović took Brazil's reins to face the 2019 Qualifiers and one of his objectives, without a doubt, was to get to the highest stage with the South American team. “I congratulate the players. For me, the most important thing is that after a year we already have two or three young players that can participate at an international level, such as Yago, Didi, and now Alexey.”

Regarding the victory against the Caribbean team, he said: “We were able to overcome the mistakes of the first 15 minutes. We suffered the one-on-one and 10 offensive rebounds, but once we fixed that, we began a certain dynamic of winning the easier game.”

Regarding their next match, on Monday, February 25, against a Dominican team who are seeking to qualify in Santo Domingo, he stated: “We have a very important upcoming game as visitors in the Dominican Republic, because it will be an infernal environment and I want to see how players will react when the situation doesn’t favor us.”

The young player for Brazil’s Franca, Didi Louzada, is one of the new figures of the South American team. He’s 19 years old, he measures 6’4” and he's one of the responsible players for their victory, thanks to his 15-point contribution (3/5 in three-point shots, 4/5 in two-pointers), 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

“It was a very important game for my career. This is the first time I'm a starter and I'm grateful for the opportunity given to me by Petrović. The experience I've had has been very fulfilling,” Didi assured.

Veteran player Alex García is back in the national team. He had only played in the first qualifying window, and yesterday (Thursday) he added 11 points: “I'm happy to be back in the national team. This is a deserved qualification and I'm now going for my fifth World Cup.”

Another player that pointed out the challenges faced by the national team at the beginning of the game was Vítor Benite. The small forward closed the game with 20 points and is the third best in point averages, with 13.3; after Marquinhos Souza (17.3) and Leandro Barbosa (15.0).

“I think that the team played very well. We were consistent against a difficult rival like the Virgin Islands, who don’t have a tactics system that's clearly defined. People are happy with Alex’s comeback. He's our best defense and he contributes a different rhythm to the team,” assured Spain’s San Pablo Burgos player.

He then added: “The objective was simple: arrive, achieve a good victory, give good rhythm to all players, and now the moment has come to celebrate the qualification for a little bit.”

Celebrate. It's the time to celebrate. Brazil’s qualification was very close, but it couldn't happen in the fifth stage of the Qualifiers. It delayed and happened in the last window, regardless of other results. The voyage to Santo Domingo to face the Dominicans will be another challenge for this team that could change names but is always ready for battle in a vessel commandeered by Anderson Varejão and Leandrinho Barbosa, and that will feature Marcelinho Huertas in August — they will all face a new World Cup.

FIBA