Rubio: “I want to be in the World Cup – a lot of players can’t wait”

Released a few months ago from the serious knee injury that kept him out of Eurobasket, the Ricky Rubio he dreams of his return to the Spanish national team for the World Cup. The 2019 tournament MVP spoke to the FIBA ​​website about the importance and high level of competition in the summer in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia. The statements of the Cavaliers guard in detail:

– Spain qualified for the FIBA ​​World Cup and will look to retain their title…

“Yes, it’s great to have secured the ticket before the last window. The boys who competed were concentrated throughout the Windows process to qualify and go to Asia to fight for the title. It’s great to see young guys coming into the National team pool and getting minutes in the qualifiers and to see that our dynamic, our game philosophy is something that gives the younger guys a chance to shine with the National team. A lot of players did really well during the Windows, so it’s great for now and the future. I also liked to see that the stadiums were full and the support for the National team is very great. People have passion and that’s also a great thing for younger players. It is great that they feel this love and constant support from our fans every time they play for the National Team. the world is our sixth player.”

– You were the MVP in China. What do you remember most from this event?

“It was probably one of the best moments of my life. Winning a World title is so amazing. While you know that many teams can reach this title, the fact that you understand that you helped your country reach the top of the world is just fantastic, unique, incredible. When you play for the National team, you want to win, to bring joy to the world and your compatriots. We had such a great tournament in 2019. The team and guys were amazing. This tournament was very, very competitive and we fought hard battles against many teams, but we achieved our goal of winning the world crown. I will never forget this tournament and the joy we felt when we lifted the trophy and took it home.”

– Will we see Rico Rubio in this year’s World Cup?

“I’m still in the process of getting back into a competitive rhythm and we’re still a long way from the World Cup. I must be patient. If I’m healthy I’d like to play but we’ve got a lot of months ahead of us and I just got back on the pitch after a lot of months out. The tournament will be very exciting, in three fantastic countries and I am sure the fans are looking forward to this tournament. It’s the world stage, everyone wants to compete at that level. Many very good teams have already qualified and everyone wants to bring home a medal. Everyone will try to put themselves in a great position knowing that we have two very big tournaments in the next two years, the FIBA ​​World Cup and the Olympics in Paris. These are two very important years and everyone wants to make the most of these two opportunities to shine and win titles and medals. The level of competitiveness is amazing and many teams can reach the medal positions fighting for the title. I know many players, from many different National teams, who want to win the gold medal. We also have teams that don’t have that many NBA players, teams that compete at a very good level and have developed very good team chemistry. Everyone wins with this situation: the fans, the teams, the players and basketball in general. This is beautiful for our sport.”