TEHRAN Iranian national basketball team coach Mehmed Becirovic said that the Iranian team has been pitted with the strong teams in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain, but they are anticipating reaching the next stage.
The Iranian outfit has been drawn with London Olympics silver medalist Spain in Group A as well as the European champion France, Brazil, Serbia, and Egypt.
Iran has been drawn in a tough group but we will do our best to book a place in the next round. I always like to compete with the best teams. Iran has high-quality players and could advance from the group stage. Thats why we will be participating in the competitions, Becirovic said.
Spain is the host and one of the best basketball teams. France is European champion, and Brazil has several NBA players. Serbia will participate in the tournament with its good young players, but we want to qualify for the next round, the Slovenian stated.
Iran will hold a pre-tournament training camp in a European country. In the training camp, we will prepare to face the strong teams. I am looking forward to playing friendlies with the big teams as well, he said.
The 2014 FIBA World Cup will be held in Spain from August 30 to September 14.
Iran is scheduled to face host Spain in Granada on August 30.
The top four teams from each group will advance to the next round, where the 16 remaining teams will play a typical bracket-style series of do-or-die games until a champion is crowned.