Egypt will host the FIBA Under-19 World Cup for basketball under the auspicious of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. The tournament is from 1-9 July at Cairo Stadium's indoor halls. Sixteen teams are participating divided into four groups. Egypt won the World Cup bid after strong competition from Italy, Israel and Latvia. At a press conference held alongside the draw, Khaled Abdel-Aziz, the minister of youth and sports, said the Egyptian government was putting all its facilities at the disposal of the Egyptian Basketball Federation “to make the event a great success, to attract the attention of the whole world to Egypt and to send a message that Egypt is a safe place for everyone” Magdi Abu Freikha, head of the federation, said winning the bid to hold such an event in Egypt “is proof that we are moving in the right path. It won't be the last but it is the first step as Egypt will be able to organise such huge events in all sports from now on. I think the Egyptian team will reach the finals and the players will do their best to win the title and the cup.” Mohamed Abdel-Moteleb, the championship's manager, said the Ministry of Sports had helped the federation import parts of the courts after they were stalled in the airport because of taxes and that the minister was giving a helping hand in every issue to make the event a success. He also invited basketball fans to come and back the Egyptian team in its matches. Cairo Complex Indoor Halls will open its doors to fans of basketball which is considered the third most popular sport in Egypt after football and handball. The countries that will compete in the competition are Egypt (the host), Angola, Mali, the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Iran, Japan, Korea, France, Lithuania, Italy, Germany, Spain and New Zealand. Egypt's head coach Juan Antonio Orenga said the host team is looking to make use of such a big opportunity. “It is important to get in contact with big teams and see where our team stands among them. It is a great challenge, and all of us want to go for it,” said the 50-year-old Spaniard who has coached Spain's national team. Under-19 Basketball World Cup Logo “The most important thing we have right now is we want to play a great tournament in Egypt with the support of all the country.” Orenga will likely call up most of the Egypt team that played at the FIBA U18 Africa Championship of 2016. Orenga was head coach for Spain at the FIBA EuroBasket in 2013 — a third place finish — and the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 — a loss to France in the quarter-finals. Orenga was also an assistant on Spain's silver medal winning team at the 2012 Olympics. And he guided Spain to the title at the 2011 and 2016 FIBA U20 European Championships. Orenga has been holding five-day camps each month since September last year and had a 10-day camp in February. Egypt will start its preparations in full on 27 April. Egypt's best performance among five previous appearances at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cups was 11th place in 2009 and 2015. But Egypt will also have the home fans behind them as Cairo hosts the first-ever FIBA world youth men's event staged in Africa. Egypt falls in Group B which includes Germany, Lithuania and Puerto Rico. “As all the groups, it will be very difficult because all the teams are well-experienced,” Orenga said. “We want to try to have options to win each game and play the best basketball that we can.” One Egyptian star to watch is Ahmed Khalaf. The Egyptian centre will be one of the most experienced players in the tournament having played at two FIBA U17 Basketball World Cups as well as the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in 2015. He also captained the Egyptian team that finished second at the 2016 FIBA U18 Africa Championship in Kigali. “We will need the experience of each player to add to the team. He is one of the players who can give more to the rest of the team,” Orenga said of Khalaf who turned 18 in February. Orenga also believes help will come from Essam Mustafa, Egypt's other leading big man from the 2016 U18 Africa team and who also played at the U19 global spectacle in 2015. “I am expecting the same from Ahmed. They both must be an example to be followed by the rest of the team,” Orengo added. “I will be a good leader by pushing them, but they will help me, too,” said Khalaf. “I am working to help my team, and I'm sure that they are working hard to be better, too. We will have more than one leader. Some players were with me at some of the (youth) World Cups. You can say we all will be leaders.” Mustafa joined forces with Khalaf again last summer at the 2016 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup in Zaragoza, Spain, where both players averaged double-doubles in points and rebounds but Egypt finished last with a 1-6 record. That big man duo was two of five 1999-born players who guided Egypt to second place at the 2016 FIBA U18 Africa Championship, along with Tarek Raafat, Mohamed Ramadan and Mohamed Youssef. Raafat was the team's leading scorer last summer and named to the All-Star Five, while Youssef topped the team in assists. The top two players from the 1998 generation will be Seifeedin Al-Sandily and Omar Farag, both who had strong roles at the U18 continental championship last summer. “We are not so young anymore and now every player knows how important it is. Everyone will be watching how we play and how good we are. We have to show our best for our country,” Khalaf said. “The U19 national team is in shape and has more experience than the U17 for sure,” Khalaf said. “I see so many players from the World Cup playing in good teams or the NBA. I learned a lot from the U19,” added Khalaf who played against a United States team in 2015 with the likes of Chinanu Okuaku, Josh Jackson, Jayson Tatum, Harry Giles, Terrance Ferguson and Caleb Swanigan. Khalaf's strong showings were not lost on those outside Egypt as was spending his second season in Spain with the club Manresa. “My experience abroad will help me to show myself more in Cairo.” “It will be something special, not like any time before. It will be the last youth World Cup for me,” Khalaf said. “It's so beautiful to play in Egypt in front of my fans. I hope we show something special.” Argentina will compete at the Cairo World Cup after FIBA confirmed the proposal by FIBA Americas to have the South Americans replace Brazil, whose federation is currently serving a suspension. The FIBA central board had confirmed the Brazilian suspension at its meeting in Hong Kong, deciding that Brazil will be replaced for all FIBA international events taking place until the end of July with replacements put forward by the Americas regional office. FIBA Americas chose Argentina, who beat hosts Chile in the fifth-place game at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship in 2016 and were the next in line in final ranking. In Cairo, the South Americans will play in Group A against New Zealand, Korea and France. Argentina had failed to qualify for the U19 spectacle for just the second time, missing the 1987 event but having played in the past nine FIBA U19 Basketball World Cups. Argentina claimed third place in the first edition in 1979 and in 1991.
