previous ones Spanish selection Every time he competes in a major international event in the Asian continent. In 2006, he was declared world champion in Japan. He was an Olympic finalist and star of one of the stars. The best matches in history against the USA at the 2008 Beijing Games. And four years ago he defended the world title in the Chinese capital.
Beyond the weight loss he has shown in the Championship, especially the weight loss of the two front lines (Ricky Rubio, Lorenzo Brown), this successful track record will be soon. Our first match of the World Cup this Saturday is against Ivory Coast (15:30, La 2 de TVE) because Sergio Scariolo’s team has managed to reinvent itself and maintain its competitive DNA after the ‘golden youth’ generation has withdrawn.
The Hernangómez brothers have taken over and with them a mix of veteran players (Llull, Rudy, Claver) and youth fuel the ambition of the group (very young Juan Núñez, 19, center Santi Aldama) coming to Jakarta. The Indonesian capital is under some pressure to defend the world crown achieved in 2019 but at the same time with maximum motivation and the illusion of presenting a good image. The first challenge is to reach the quarterfinals. It will be seen later.
“There are teams with more physical, athletic, goal-scoring qualities. But our weapons are different, they have always been collective, they played as a team, they helped each other, they were a very competitive group, they did not leave the games unfinished.” Scariolo stated in the preview. “Again under the other favourites, we started with a desire to go on the group tour first and then to the quarterfinals. It will be successful to get there, then we’ll see,” said the coach.
Both Barça guard Darío Brizuela and Valencia forward Víctor Claver made it clear the importance of participating in the World Cup with one hundred percent focus. Wins in the first three matches (After Ivory Coast will be rivaled by Brazil on Monday and Iran on Wednesday) and to do it with humility.
a physical competitor
“Humility is one of the keys to this team and because we are champions we can’t think we’ve won anything. We’ve had that in other years as well: we could get complicated and have a hard time during the tournament and we don’t want that.” Other years things went well, but you don’t always know the other side of the coin”, explained Claver, after the team’s practice at the Indonesia Arena, where direct rivals France and Canada will play.
“Ivory Coast This ‘a priori’ is not the strongest competitor, but a physical and unpredictable opponentAs Scariolo said. It won’t be easy and we need to be good from the second. The next stage will be very complex and if you go 3-0 it gives you some air, but if you go 2-1 it can be complicated”, says Darío Brizuela, the new signing of Barça.
“There’s a big push to start, we’ve been preparing for a while and we’re excited to start a new world championship. We know it’s important to start winning because it’s important for the first game and the next phase.” We can’t relax for a moment,” he added. KeyboardOne of the world champions of 2019 Returning to the national team after his absence European basketball and said that in the tournament, Spain can improve its defense level.
Brizuela admitted that she has good feelings about the group. ‘La mamba vasca’ explained, despite the significant losses they went to Jakarta, “The fatigue suppresses the adrenaline and the nerves but I think the team is doing very well”. “Lorenzo and Ricky aren’t here, but Juan Núñez is here, there’s Llull who’s also very good at holding the ball, and there’s Aldama who’s a great finisher, not a generator, so that’s good: as José Mota puts it, ‘those who go in through those who go out’ “It’s his day. There’s a lot of talent, we fit in with the five people on the track,” he said.