Ivan Holguin Lopez / @ivan_baloncesto
As if it were nonsense, just over eight years ago, the Venezuelan basketball team was making its historic second qualification for the Olympics in this branch and happened, neither more nor less against Canada, the same opponent they would. Face each other today, Sunday, February 26th.
Also read: Why won’t the 2.18m giant play against Canada?
In that legendary FIBA Americas in Mexico (pre-Olympic) Venezuela achieved the feat of defeating favorite Canada, a team full of NBA players that was a wide favorite to win the tournament held in Mexico.
The match featured a shocking fourth half, the highlight of which was the hat-trick scored by Hessler Gillett and the free kick converted by Gregory Vargas that gave the Creoles the lead of 79-78, with which they achieved the victory that allowed Venezuela to return to the tournament. The Olympic Games 23 years later.
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💻: Courtside 1891.#TogetherTheWorld# WinForVenezuela pic.twitter.com/o009BPVtcg
– FVB 🠇 »ðŸ ‡ ªðŸ € (FVBbasketball) February 26, 2023
The top scorer for Venezuela in that match was Windi Graterol, who finished with 20 points, closely followed by Heissler Guillent who backed up with 19 points. Later, Venezuela disputes the title against Argentina, and ends up capturing its first such title by defeating the southerners with a score of 76-71.