MVP Matos in coach Inaki Garcia’s preliminary squad

MAPUTO (AfroBasket 2015) - Pio Matos has had a season to remember, sparking underdogs Desportivo de Maputo to Mozambique's national league title over the weekend.

As Desportivo were crowned the new champions after beating star-studded Ferroviario de Maputo 69-50 in Game 4 of the best-of-five Finals, Matos was named the competition's Most Valuable Player.

Shortly after his success, the 1.86m point guard saw his name among Mozambique's 22-player preliminary squad announced on Tuesday by Spaniard head coach Inaki Garcia, who returns at helm of the Southern African country for this year's AfroBasket.

The 16-team tournament will take place in the Tunisian cities of Nabeul and Tunis from 19-30 August, and Garcia, who coached Mozambique at AfroBasket 2011 and has a vast coaching experience in the country's domestic league, wasted no time to start his preparations.

On Wednesday, Garcia, who witnessed the Finals of the national championship from the stands, officially opened Mozambique's training camp.

He told FIBA.com that some of the players in his preliminary squad were surprisingly good and capable of competing at AfroBasket level, while others will need work harder to remain among the 15 players that he will take to Valladolid, Spain, on 18 July, where they will hold part of their training camp.

On 30 July, Garcia and his team will travel to Turkey, where they will hold an extended part of their preparations before travelling to Tunisia.

"There is a lot of room for improvement," he said, "but a number of new players could be helpful to us in Tunisia."

Mozambique have been drawn in Group B with defending champions Angola, Morocco and Senegal.

Despite their highly-regarded opponents, Garcia and his team are seeking to achieve their best result ever at AfroBasket.

They want to do a lot better than they did at AfroBasket 2013, and win more than two games in the tournament.

Our target is to reach the Quarter-Finals and we are going to compete for that. - Garcia

"Ours is a tough group, and we know that we are going face even harder teams in the next-round.

"There is no weak opponents in a competition such as the AfroBasket."

Mozambique preliminary squad for AfroBasket 2015: Armando Baptista, David Canivete, Yuri Chambale, Baggio Chimonzo, Aurélio Chiziane, Luís De Barros, Nelson Jossias, Fernando Mandlate, Hugo Martins, Amarildo Matos, Augusto Matos, Pio Matos, Octavio Magoliço, Elton Mazive, Edson Monjane, Samora Mucavel, Custódio Muchate, Ermelindo Novela, Ismael Nurmamad, Paulo Sambo, Manuel Uamusse and Elton Ubisse.

FIBA