2014 fiba world championship: gilas pilipinas versus croatia

having been absent in the international basketball scene for almost 4 decades, filipino fans started the gilas pilipinas campaign with modest expectations but high hopes. making it to the world cup is an achievement itself and seeing the local PBA heroes side by side with the world's best is simply unbelievable.

but nobody expected what happened in their first game versus croatia...

croatia, who is ranked number 16 in the world, is expected to top the group b of the group stage. in fact, some websites bpredicted at least a 31 point victory over the philippines. but with pure heart and guts, the gilas pilipinas forced the game into overtime at 71-all after 4 quarters before eventually losing after the 5 minute additional time, at 81-79.

nobody expected this to be this close, i think this is the biggest surprise of day 1. gilas pilipinas made a statement last night that they might have been a virtual unknown entering the  tournament but they will fight with all heart. that was really an impressive debut by the philippines.

here are the game highlights from the fiba youtube channel:

philippines will be going against greece tomorrow early morning at 2am, then argentina at 11pm (manila time).

video is from the fiba youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOwuJtXXe04&list=PLCXERy73Oiz_dZlx-PgDDaW7393y6ngL8