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 his left ankle.

Ginobili, who plays as shooting guard, told Xinhua that even without having Yao Ming in its physical plenitude, the China's basketball national team, "could complicate, could win one important match, or make an unexpected win, a surprise."

"However, I doubt they (Chinese team) have potential to achieve the semifinal," Ginobili said.

Ginobili, who won the gold medal in the Athens Olympics in 2004,could be out of Beijing due to a lesion in his left ankle, although the final decision will be taken on the first week of July, after medical checkups in San Antonio.

(Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2008)