Sports Editorial, September 8 (EFE).- Serbia finished this Friday with the favoritism of Canada (95-86) to, with a remarkable match by Bogdan Bogdanovic in which he minimized Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, reach a final in which a rival is already waiting, who will emerge from the duel between Germany and the United States.

It was the first World Cup semi-final for Canada in its entire history and the third for a veteran, unofficial and, of course, talented Serbia. And this condition of North American inexperience was palpable on the wood of the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila. Serbia was a whirlwind, led by a raging Bogdanovic, and Canada found itself extremely overwhelmed, perhaps for the first time since the start of the World Cup adventure in South Asia. East.

Even against Spain, which put it in difficulty, or against Brazil, which managed to win, Canada did not give the impression of being inferior. But Pesic Svetislav’s plan went perfectly from the start, going 8-0 with triples from Ognjen Dobric and Bodgan Bogdanovic making it 8-1, the first big advantage of the match.

The quality of Fernández’s selection allowed him, although lost for a large part of the match due to the Serbian approach, to largely stop the hemorrhages that occurred during the duel, which could have been much more important.

With two triples from Rj Barert and Olynyk, they managed to reduce this first, but it was only a mirage in a first quarter completely dominated by a Serbia which, curiously, was able to do a lot of damage in transitions fast, the specialty of the North American team. An 11-0 run made the score 21-13, something Jordi Fernández couldn’t figure out from the bench. Canada was heavily outnumbered, Serbia was flying.

And the European team didn’t let up its intensity or pace in the second quarter, knowing that Canada only needed a little to get back on track and narrow the lead. The Serbian defense was an exhibition and with two dunks from Milutinov (16 points), always in these rapid transitions, it increased the lead to 10 points.

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It was no longer just about the great Serbian defensive game, but that Canada had failed at everything it hadn’t failed to do so far. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander not only didn’t have his scoring afternoon, but he was loaded with fouls before the break. Their third was +15 for Serbia, which ended up being +13 at halftime (52-39).

Only 5 points from Shai at halftime, 15 at the end of the match, insufficient to bring Canada to the grand final. Bogdanovic was decisive in the first half, but in the second he was brilliant. Canada finished with 17 fouls at halftime, including 3 from Shai, showing the frustration of a team unaccustomed to having problems on offense.

Serbia had everything ready for the second half, they had to give the final blow against one of the world basketball powers. His pulse didn’t waver in the slightest and he showed superiority throughout the Philippines, with a truly unleashed Bogdanovic finishing the game with 23 points.

Canada tried to respond with Brooks from the three-point line, but Serbia countered all of Canada’s good plays with zone accuracy, zone aggression and confidence in traffic. A choral performance with a conductor, Bogdanovic, who toured Manila and showed the way to the finale.

Canada found itself on the ropes. Fernández had to stop to give his team a monumental reprimand with just over five minutes to go: “Fight together,” he said with the score at 82-65 looking for a reaction of his players, affected by the incapacity and hurting Serbia.

But with just over a minute to go, seeing that the advantage of more than 10 points was insurmountable, it was Jordi Fernández himself who raised the white flag and gave minutes to the less common players . Serbia was in the final.

The 2014 runner-up, lost to the United States, possible finalist and silver medalist at Rio 2016, is back in another grand final. Bogdanovic, the ogre of the Canadians, was the great architect of another historic day for Serbian basketball.

— Technical sheet:

95. Serbia (23+29+23+20): Nikola Jovic (8), Bogdan Bogdanovic (23), Ognjen Dobric (16), Stefan Jovic (2), Nikola Milutinov (16) -starting team- Aleksa Avramovic ( 10), Dejan Davidovac (4), Marko Guduric (12), Vanja Marinkovic (4), Filip Petrusev (0), Dusan Ristic (-), Borisa Simanic (-).

86. Canada (15+24+24+23): Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (15), Rj Barret (23), Kelly Olynyk (9), Dillon Brooks (16), Dwight Powell (5) -starting team-, Luguentz Dort (3), Kyle Alexander (0), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (10), Zach Edey (5), Phil Scrubb (), Melvin Ejim (0), Trae Bell-Haynes (0).

Referees: Julio Anaya (Panama), Yohan Rosso (France), Manuel Mazzoni (United States).

Incidents: match corresponding to the semi-final of the 2023 Basketball World Cup, played at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila (Philippines).

(c) EFE Agency