.................................................................................................................

The FIBA World Championship cannot come soon enough for me, my compatriots and indeed, my nation.

Having received in the past month words of commiseration following Spain's disappointing exit from the World Cup in Germany, I am quite happy and relieved to turn the page.

We are, after all, an under-achieving nation when it comes to major tournaments.

This is something we are used to.

Upon my return from Germany where I had the chance to cover Spain and Italy games, I came across some remarks from Spanish basketball president Jose Luis Saez that cheered me up.

"It's about time we do something special, we win a gold medal," Saez said.

That Spanish basketball has quality is unquestionable, with the NBA having turned its attention in the past two years to our players.

But whether we can make it happen, that remains a different matter.

How can I forget our impressive run at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, where we won five consecutive games, including an 87-76 triumph over eventual champions Argentina.

The thought of glory did come to mind but it was shortlived.

Team USA had underachieved in the preliminary round and finished fourth in their group.

They were ridiculed for their woeful outside shooting.

Spain’s reward for a great preliminary round? It was quarter-final date with the US, a team that had a lot to prove.

Stephon Marbury made a US Olympic record six three-pointers (he missed only three) and finished with a US Olympic record 31 points.

They beat Spain 102-94. I nearly cried.

Last year's EuroBasket in Belgrade proved to be another disappointment.

With Pau Gasol only available in the stands where he was doing commentary for Spanish TV - he was resting a foot injury on the advice of the Memphis Grizzlies - Spain showed they could overcome his absence, even against a difficult Croatian opponent in the quarter-finals, a game Spain won in overtime.
Fran Vazquez was outstanding in that game, and so was Juan Carlos Navarro.

But what a difference Pau would have made though against Dirk Nowitzki's Germany in the semi-final.

He hit that jumper, with Jorge Garbajosa’s hand in his face, with about four seconds remaining and Germany advanced to the final.

We were nowhere to be seen in the bronze-medal game against France, with Navarro, Jose Manuel Calderon and Garbajosa clearly not up for the third place game.

Things have changed since then, for starters, former Estudiantes coach Pepu Hernandez, a no-nonsense kind of guy is now in charge, succeeded Mario Pesquera in December.

Gasol is fired up and ready to make amends after his absence at the EuroBasket and the winless run in the NBA play-off this season with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Gasol, remember, caught some criticism for his performances against Nowitzki. Both Spain and Germany are in Group B in Japan, so they will face each other there.

This time around, Spain is not a Gasol-driven team, or at least it shouldn’t be.

The Spaniards have Calderon in the NBA, and both Jorge Garbajosa and Sergio Rodriguez are also headed across the Atlantic to join him and Gasol.

I hope this will be the tournament we shake off our underachievers tag.