‘Moz’ll Shock The World’

When Mozambique take to the floor at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament which begins today in Turkey, playmaker Deolinda Ngulela will continue to hold the key to them making a splash and causing an upset.

While the diminutive point guard may now be a veteran, she still brings an incredible amount of energy to the team as well as her infectious enthusiasm for the game which rubs off on the rest of her team-mates.

The undisputed floor general of the Mozambique team, Deolinda first rose to prominence just over a decade ago at the Africa Club Championship for Women in Abidjan, Ivory Coast where she played a starring role for Academica.

Winning a host of titles during her career, she has continued to impress in the same tournament on a personal level with MVP awards in the competition.

The shooting guard player stepped off the practice court in Ankara yesterday declaring her Mozambique team-mates are excited to be heading into the unknown when they tip off their campaign in group S against Croatia later today, and then face Korea on Tuesday.

There’s little doubt Group C is a mystery to even the most die-hard women’s basketball enthusiasts but the unpredictability of facing Korea and Croatia suits the guard and Mozambique just fine.

She said, “The best element of this tournament for us is that the teams in our group really don’t know too much about each other. This opens the door for many surprises but like in most games of basketball at this level, it is probably going to be the team who makes the least mistakes that will be the most successful.

“We are really motivated because it is such a high level competition and I think it can be a good tournament for us.”

Having finished in fifth spot at the FIBA Africa Championship in Bamako last year, Mozambique must really make a big stride if they want to realise their Olympic ambitions. Unsurprisingly Ngulela insisted they just need to learn from that valuable experience and make sure they get the basics right.

She explained, “We don’t have height and this is something we just have to deal with but I think last summer gave us a clue as to what else we have to work on – starting with controlling our emotions.

“We have to focus on just being strong and not turning the ball over too much.

“I think playing at this kind of level for us is all about attitude and intelligence on the court” continued Nguela.

“We have to really play smart if we want to be successful.”