TEAM Asia knows the reality that it is coming in as heavy underdogs heading into the third installment of the Reyes Cup which starts this Thursday at Makati Coliseum.
But for team captain Francisco "Django" Bustamante, all he told his wards is to focus on the matches and play their games plain and simple.
“Wag ninyong isipin na world champions yan. Ang isipin ninyo, paano ninyo sila tatalunin," he said during the press conference on Tuesday at Holiday Inn in Makati.
Indeed, odds are stacked against Team Asia which has won the first two editions of the event.
Two-time world champion Carlo Biado and last year's MVP AJ Manas banner Team Asia together with holdover Duong Quoc Hoang of Vietnam and newcomers Robbie Capito of Hong Kong and Albert Januarta of Indonesia.
Compare that to a loaded Team Rest of World which has former world champions Shane Van Boening and Fedor Gorst of the United States, Joshua Filler of Germany, and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz of Spain, as well as the debuting Aleksa Pecelj of Serbia captained by Ralf Souquet.
Seeing that roster should sent shivers to the opponents' spine, but Bustamante would like to digress.
“Hindi kami nape-pressure," he said. "Basta sabi ko sa kanila, gawin lang nila ang dapat nilang gawin. Laro lang. Ganyan talaga 'yan. Basta play your best game.”
Just like the past two iterations, it will be a race-to-11 series across four days.
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