Italy-USA, Germany-Latvia, Lithuania-Serbia, Canada-Slovenia are the quarterfinal clashes of the FIBA World Cup, which will be held on Tuesday, September 5 and Wednesday, September 6 (Friday, the 8th is the semi-final and Sunday). 10th) is the final match and the bronze match). This final stage will be held in Manila (Philippines).
In Group Nine, Italy qualified by defeating Puerto Rico 73-57, and is among the best eight teams in the world for the first time since 1998. Serbia also confirmed its status as a candidate to win against the Dominican Republic (79-112). In Group J, the United States and Lithuania, already seeded and undefeated, faced each other for first place, and the upset came as the Lithuanian team beat the heavy favorites 104-110. Seven Lithuanian players reached or exceeded 10 points and in Steve Kerr's group the great soloist was once again Anthony Edwards with 35 points.
The same clash occurred between the Roosters in Group K with Germany and Slovenia, who won all their matches until they surpassed the lead. The cohesive German team, which reached the semi-finals in the last edition of the European Championship, made the strength of its group (100-71) valuable in the face of the stardom of Luka Doncic, the author of 23 points, six rebounds and six assists. In Germany, point guard Schroder's 24 points and 10 assists shined even more brilliantly.
In the other match of Group L, in the duel before Spain-Canada, Latvia once again showed against Brazil the happy and graceful basketball with which it defeated the finalists of the last European Basketball Championship, Spain and France. And without its star, Porzingis. The Latvian team, supported by thousands of fans in Jakarta, achieved a resounding victory 84-104 thanks to 24 points from Grazulis and 17 from Zagars.
In the background, there is a struggle for direct tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics, two in the European case, with France already in place as host. The quarter-finals will host six continental teams in a tough battle: Germany, Slovenia, Italy, Latvia, Serbia and Lithuania. The United States and Canada completed the top eight bowl. For teams that do not secure these two direct places, the road to Paris is through the pre-Olympic tournament that will be held from July 2 to 7 in several venues yet to be determined, and six days of competition falling between the end of the tournament. European Leagues (ACB could be extended until June 17) and games start on July 26.
Classification of groups in the second stage.
You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes on Facebook And Twitteror sign up here to receive Our weekly newsletter.
“Lifelong travel trailblazer. Food nerd. Award-winning music enthusiast. Twitter guru.”