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Duterte roots for China, sees Gilas losing to bigger Italy in World Cup

Gilas Pilipinas won’t stand a chance against Italy when they play each other in the FIBA World Cup 2019 in China.

This not-so-encouraging forecast came from President Rodrigo Duterte, who said the Filipinos are too short for the Italians.

“We will lose sa Italy. Ang lalaki kaya ng mga ‘yan (We will lose to Italy. Those guys are too big) ,” Duterte said in an audience with Filipino-Chinese businessmen in Malacanang.

Duterte instead encouraged Filipinos to root for China.

“Sa China na lang tayo magpusta (We just place our bet on China),” Duterte said.

Duterte, however, sees Gilas Pilipinas easily winning over Angola.

“Angola, ito pwede natin ilibing (We can bury Angola),” he quipped.

The World Cup will begin on August 31. Gilas Pilipinas is grouped with Serbia, Angola, Italy and Angola.

Gilas Pilipinas will start its campaign with a match against Italy on opening day. It will play against Serbia on September 2 and Angola on September 4.

President Duterte is to fly to China to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month. He is expected to watch the World Cup Games.

Staff Report

The Filipino Times is the chronicler of stories for, of and by Filipinos all over the world, reaching more than 236 countries in readership. Any interesting story to share? Email us at [email protected]

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