MVP STATEMENT ON GILAS PERFORMANCE AGAINST CROATIA
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 31 Aug 2014
Pangilinan.
In a statement sent to the Manila Standard/Viva Sports, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president and the major benefactor of the Gilas Pilipinas national team competing in the FIBA Basketball World Cup after an absence of 40 years, Manny Pangilinan, praised the effort of the national team against mighty Croatia and said ?the game against Croatia will be told over and over again hereafter and could eventually evolve into a legendary tale.?
Pangilinan said ?well done Gilas. Well dome indeed. You made us all very proud and grateful and, with an element of surprise, impressed FIBA and the global basketball world ? including Croatia.?
He said ?the Filipino heart was on the court for all to see, with no more proof needed that love for country animated our effort and our game. This view simply reflects the sense of the vast majority of our people back home, here in Spain and elsewhere in the world.?
Pangilinan believes that ?from an historical perspective it is one small step forward after so many years of neglect, stupor and worse, resignation to our fate as a basketball doormat because of our size. We?ve injured those dragons yesterday, the task of killing them remains.?
The esteemed businessman-sportsman said ?whilst a great moral victory was undoubtedly achieved, it is one game statistically and it goes on the record books as a loss. Lets remember these too. To stay grounded and not get lost in the euphoria of the moment. May I paraphrase Winston Chirchill referencing the successful Dunkirk evacuation of Allied soldiers in WW 2 by England ? wars are not won with feelings or moral victories. They simply must be won.?
Finally, Pangilinan said, ?whilst I?m at it ? Robert Frost should remind us that there are miles to go before we sleep. God bless Gilas. God bless the Philippines.?
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