D’Tigers have been drawn alongside Argentina, Russia and Korea in Group B of the 2019 FIBA World Cup for men in China which is set to commence betweethe August 31 -September 15, 2019.
Nigeria D’Tigers currently 33rd on the FIBA ranking will once again be facing familiar opponent and world number 6, Argentina for the third time since their last 2 previous meetings at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
It will be the first ever meeting against world number 10, Russia who are making a return to the world stage after missing out in 2014.
World number 32, South Korea will hope to put the memories of their 2014 World cup behind them where they finished 23rd out of the 24 participating nations when both sides meet in the sprawling city of Wuhan.
NBBF President, Engr Musa Kida Speaking immediately after the draws, described the group as fair but tricky pointing out that early preparation holds the key to a fruitfull World Cup campaign.
He said “Now that we have known the teams that we will face, we need to start preparations in earnest if we are to make an impact in China.
“We are going to the World Cup as the number 1 team in Africa and the first country to qualify for the world cup globally on the back of a 9 game unbeaten, so we have definitely drawn some attention”, Engr Musa Kida said.
The NBBF has already kick-off preparations in earnest with the D’Tigers’ head coach, Alex Nwora in talks with some key players ahead of the world cup.
“In the coming days, we shall reveal out our World Cup preparation plans which will also go in line with the African Games. If we get our acts right and get the needed players we are targeting, we can achieve a result that all Nigerians will be proud of” he concluded.
