Ricky Rubio said it best on Tuesday after his defensive excellence helped Spain avoid defeat to hosts China at the Beijing Games.

"People know me in Spain, but these types of games will help the world get to know me," he said.

Rubio, just 17, and his DKV Joventut Badalona buddy Rudy Fernandez teamed up again to lift Spain to an 85-75 victory.

The two won a lot of games last year in both Spain and Europe.

First in Spain, the two helped DKV win the Copa del Rey and then  they fired their club to victory in the ULEB Cup.

Both are stars. Each was voted FIBA Europe's Young Player of the Year, Fernandez for 2006 and Rubio for 2007.

Fernandez had 21 points, eight assists and nine rebounds.

Rubio only scored one point, but he was everywhere, chasing players or loose balls.

"Ricky just touches every ball," said Marc Gasol.

He came up with five steals but had an effect on many more plays, including the one with seven seconds remaining when Liu Wei was trying to find some space to shoot a potential game-winning shot only to be trapped by Rubio in front of  the China bench.

Under the pressure of Rubio, Liu lost the ball out of bounds.

Rubio wasn't allowed to speak to the media last season in Spain per club policy because of his youth, but now he's talking more and the world is watching.

He wasn't about to let the game end in defeat for Spain.

"We thought this was going to be easy and we almost paid the price," Rubio said.

"There came a time when we had to get ourselves going," Gasol admitted.

Rubio added: "We were psychologically hurt at one point but this victory sure helps us put our feet firmly on the ground because there's no guarantee that this could not happen again."

Germany suffered an 87-64 defeat to Greece, with Vasilis Spanoulis scoring a game-high 23 points.

Linas Kleiza again led Lithuania with 22 points in a 99-67 victory over Iran.

Croatia upset EuroBasket 2007 winners Russia 85-78 in the other game involving a European team.