Argentina's basketball coach Sergio Hernandez said on Monday that the national team "accomplished the goal" of qualifying for the Beijing Olympic Games.

Hernandez said they had obtained the pass "without great stars", but Houston Rockets forward Luis Scola did contribute to the team's performance at the 2007 FIBA Americas Men's Basketball Championship, where they finished second to the United States.

"Nobody thought that without Emanuel Ginobili, Andres Nocioni, Walter, Hermann, Juan Ignacio Sanchez, Ruben Wolkowski and Fabricio Oberto, we could play so well," Hernandez said to the radio Mitre.

Argentina will defend in Beijing, China their gold medal they won in Athens, Greece 2004.

(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2007)