Oscar Trigo returns as head coach of the Spanish men’s national team at this year’s World Championships in Hamburg, Germany.
Spain men have been drawn in Pool D alongside reigning World Championships Australia, European rivals The Netherlands, and silver medallists from the Americas Zone Argentina.
Trigo takes back the head coach reigns after a four-year absence – his last tournament with the national team was at the 2014 World Championships in Incheon where they finished fourth.
Building on this success, Spain men made history at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games when they finished second, and they will be looking to emulate this success in Hamburg, bouncing back from a disappointing fifth-place finish at the European Championships in Tenerife last year.
When asked about his thoughts on Spain’s draw, Trigo said, “To begin with, what worries me the least today is the draw and against whom we play, but under what conditions we arrive. Only the best of each continent play in the World Championships, so you should always receive the group with the highest respect.
“In this case, our pool mates know us perfectly. Australia must regain the prestige lost in Brazil 2016, so I expect the best version of the Aussie team with a new technical direction and new challenges. The Netherlands know us well, as they proved in the last European Championships, where they set out a serious game that showed the competitive progression that they’ve been developing in recent years. The least known team for us is Argentina, although we know many of the players from their time in our national league, their technical direction changed after the World Championships in Korea and they have proven enough capacity to return Argentina to the continental level.
“So we are expecting a very competitive first phase, where the places for the next round will be hard to come by.”
POOL D
AUSTRALIA
ARGENTINA
SPAIN
THE NETHERLANDS
Take a look at all of the World Championships 2018 Pools.
The world’s wheelchair basketball elite will meet from the 16th August to 26th August 2018 at the edel-optics.de Arena in Hamburg. This will be the first time that Germany has ever hosted a World Championships and it will also be the biggest ever, with 16 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams competing for the title of World Champions.
For more information or to buy tickets please visit the World Championships website.
