Argentine basketball player Emanuel Ginobili said Wednesday that U.S. is the maximum favorite to win the gold medals of men's basketball in the Olympic Games of Beijing, although he said that Argentina and Spain also will give fight.

Ginobili told Xinhua during a press conference here that the "clear candidates are U.S. in first place, then Spain and then us (Argentina)."

Ginobili placed in a "second bloc" of favorites to "Lithuania, Greece and Russia".

Ginobili, 30, a member of three-time champion of the NBA (U.S. National Basketball Association) with the San Antonio Spurs, opened on Wednesday a suppressive doubt about his presence in Beijing due to a lesion in his left ankle.

（Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2008)