Pfleger wants Paraguayan dynamism for South American Championship

CARACAS (South American Championship) - In Paraguay there is no room for confusion. The National Federation hired Argentine coach Eduardo Pfleger with the clear intention of getting into the top five spots of the South American Championship, which will allow the national team to participate in America’s Division A of FIBA’s 2017 New Competition System and Calendar.

The arrival of Pfleger is understood because of his good job as coach of National League Champion Club Libertad.

Pfleger, arrived in Paraguay for the first time in 2005 to work on the lower categories of Club Deportivo San José. Then he performed tasks on other teams like Felix Perez Cardozo and Sol de America, until 2013, at the same time he always was part of the technical staff for Regatas Corrientes.

In 2015 the coach, born in Corrientes, joined the club Libertad, team that recently won the Metropolitan Tournament of Asuncion.

"Surely that title and the years working in Paraguay influenced on being offered that position as Head Coach of the National Team. Is a positive and convenient opportunity to participate in an international tournament at this time," said the coach to FIBA.com.

Paraguay took fifth place in the last three editions of the South American Championship, which this year will have a special value.

"Expectations are high, because we want to be among the top five teams in order to participate in the New FIBA Competition System for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. The idea is to have a good turnout, repeat fifth place achieved in past editions, but also try improve our level," said Pfleger.

Paraguay’s preliminary list lost two very important players, guard Javier Martinez, who announced his retirement from professional basketball, and center Guillermo Araujo because of his commitments in the Argentinian National League. In addition, Edison Ortiz, also injured, was left out of the squad.

The Paraguayan national team will have as main reference, forward Bruno Zanotti (1.97 meters), striker Jose Fabio (2.00) and guard Daniel Perez (1,89).

"I want to have a team with a mix of experience and youth and deploy a very dynamic game in the two sides of the court. It's a short tournament, where recovery has a very small margin. Teams like Paraguay play important games every day, we cannot choose games. We have to play our best every game," said the Argentine coach.

Paraguay did not have a very extensive preparation, and they didn’t play many friendly matches.

"We did several days of double shifts, with only one rest day. In total there will be a total of 18 days of training before we travel to Caracas. During that time we have to get as many friendlies as we can, apart from what we can do in Caracas," said Pfleger.

In the 2016 South American Championship, Paraguay will be part of Group A along with Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil. Meanwhile Group B will consists of Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay and Chile.

FIBA