GILAS Pilipinas is set to face the Brazilian national men’s basketball team tomorrow, July 6 (8:30 pm Philippine time), after the Final Four of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) being held in Riga, Latvia was confirmed.
Brazil, currently ranked 12th in the world and the topnotcher in Group B, will face the 37th ranked Gilas, the second-seeded team in Group A, in the crossover semis.
In the other semifinal pairing, Latvia, the team defeated by Gilas in the first round but still topped Group A due to a superior quotient, will face world number 68 Cameroon, who defeated Brazil via a 77-74 squeaker.
Historically, Brazil has a 4-0 win-loss advantage in its head-to-head matchup against the Philippines over the years. The Brazilians won over the Philippines in 1952, twice in 1954, and the most recent was in 1978.
But it will be a lot different now as the Philippines is deemed well equipped to pull one over the Brazilians, with a lot at stake as Gilas is just two games away from possibly booking a return to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The last time the Philippine men’s basketball team participated in the Olympics was in Munich in 1972.