AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Alen Stajcic has embraced the sport that the Philippines love.
Stajcic on Friday revealed that he has become a basketball fan after following the Denver Nuggets’ run at the NBA title last season.
READ: More watch parties set as PH catches World Cup fever
He has also become a huge Nikola Jokic fan, in the process.
“Jokic is now my favorite player,” he told Filipino reporters after Friday’s training, adding that he has been following the NBA for a couple of months already.
With his growing love for basketball, Stajcic has become even more hopeful that Filipinos will further embrace his sport of football, especially after the Philippines' first win ever in the Fifa Women’s World Cup against New Zealand.
“I hope the Philippines really embrace football. It's the one sport that unifies the world and can unify every country. It really should get a foothold back in the country in terms of support, in terms of participation, in terms of engagement," the Filipinas coach said.
“I love basketball and I've become a massive NBA fan in the last three, four months, watching the Denver Nuggets. But ultimately, football is the one sport and that's the world sport. It's a world sport for the reason.
Beautiful game
"It's universal because anyone can play. You don’t need a lot of equipment. Just need two little goals and a ball and you can play 2v2 and a straight 3v3. That’s why it has grown over the last 150 years to be basically a religion in 80-90 percent of the world. That’s why people love the game and have the passion for the game,” said Stajcic.
The Australian coach said the turnout in viewing parties for the Filipinas’ matches is a step in the right direction for football to become a household name.
“Hopefully, we’ve just planted those first few seeds of football’s growth in the Philippines,” said Stajcic.
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