Gilas Pilipinas wants the victory to wash away the bitter taste of an overtime loss it suffered four years ago in Foshan, China.
Angola, on the other hand, craves it no less, if only to maintain its head-to-head edge over the Philippines in international basketball.
Either way, a classic duel could be expected in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup when the Philippines and Angola clash in a rematch on August 27, 2023 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Filipino fans will be able to witness Angola in action live for as low as P999 for a day pass, covering two exciting, world-class basketball games.
Day passes and other ticket packages are already on sale at https://philippines-ticketing.worldcup.basketball/. Fans of Atlanta Hawks center Bruno Fernando and Angola can avail of the Follow My Team Pass which allows pass holders to watch five games that their preferred team will play in the Group Phase. The two remaining dates of play will be decided depending on their position after the first round of the Group Phase.
In 2019 during the FIBA World Cup in China, with nothing more at stake than positions in the 17th-32nd classification stage as both teams had already dropped their opening Group Phase matches against Serbia and Italy, Angola beat Gilas Pilipinas in overtime 84-81.Coached by Yeng Guiao, the Philippines had roared back from 12 points down early in the fourth quarter behind 6-foot-11 naturalized player Andray Blatche, CJ Perez and RR Pogoy to force overtime 73-all. But the Angolans kept their nerves behind Gerson Domingos and Carlos Morais, who had a brief pre-season with the Toronto Raptors in 2013, hanging on to pull off the down-the-wire thriller.
Angola wound up at 27th place in the final standings, five rungs higher than the Philippines.
Turning the tables on the Angolans and claiming a World Cup victory at the expense of another African qualifier, should be motivation enough for Gilas.
