Elinho gains minutes in the Brazilian team's victory and helps Brazil maintain a perfect campaign in the Qualifiers
- By Mirella Ramos / Central do Timão Editorial
Corinthians point guard Elinho returned to defend the Brazilian Basketball Team on Monday night (6), during the 104 x 80 victory over Colombia, in Cali, in the final round of the first phase of the 2027 Basketball World Cup Qualifiers. With the result, Brazil ended Group C with 100% success and guaranteed the leadership of the bracket.
The team led by coach Aleksandar Petrovic controlled the match from the opening minutes. Even playing away from home, the Seleção imposed defensive intensity and took advantage of their good performance in long-distance shots to open up an advantage in the first quarter.
Photo: FIBA
In the second period, the Colombians reduced the difference on the scoreboard, but Brazil quickly regained control of the match. In the final moments before the break, Petrovic introduced Elinho, who made his first appearance in this FIBA Data window. Amarelinha went to the locker room winning 68 x 39.
After the break, Colombia managed to balance the actions in part of the third quarter and reduced the deficit. However, the Brazilian team once again widened the gap, also taking advantage of a sequence of technical fouls committed by the home team, and started the final ten minutes with an advantage of more than 20 points.
Elinho remained on the court throughout the beginning of the last period and contributed to maintaining the Brazilian rhythm. The Corinthians point guard finished the match with 12 minutes and six seconds of action, registering an assist and a rebound, in addition to participating in the team's offensive organization in the final stretch of the match.
The call-up crowns another consistent season for Corinthians' number 55. In 2025/26, Elinho was one of the main highlights of the club's historic campaign in Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB), a competition in which Timão reached the semi-finals for the first time, being eliminated by Pinheiros. Individually, the point guard ended the tournament with averages of 10 points, 9.1 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game, finishing as the competition's leader in assists.
With classification assured, Brazil advances to the second phase of the Qualifiers as leader of Group C. Now, the team will join Group F, alongside the United States, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The campaigns from the first phase are maintained, a factor that increases the importance of the performance achieved so far.
The next stage will be played in the international windows of August and November 2026, in addition to February 2027. Each team will play six matches, in round-trip clashes. At the end of the phase, the top three in each group will guarantee a place in the 2027 Basketball World Cup, which will be played in Qatar. The last place in the Americas will go to the best fourth placed team between the two groups in the decisive phase.
The post Elinho gains minutes in the Brazilian team's victory and helps Brazil maintain a perfect campaign in the Qualifiers first appeared on Central do Timão.
The content Elinho gains minutes in the Brazilian team's victory and helps Brazil maintain a perfect campaign in the Qualifiers appears first in Central do Timão.
Source: Timao Central