Serbia-Canada (Friday, 10:45 a.m. Spanish peninsular time) and United States-Germany (Friday, 2:40 p.m., La2) constitute the semi-finals of the Basketball World Cup, the final phase of which takes place in Manila ( Philippines). The Canadian team, coached by Spaniard Jordi Fernández, beat Luka Doncic’s Slovenia 100-89. And Germany beat Latvia 81-79. With these results, Germans and Serbs obtain a direct ticket for the Olympic Games.

During the first match of the quarter-finals this Wednesday, Germany suffered to break the resistance of Latvia, the revelation of this World Cup. The Latvian team, even without its big star Porzings, who accompanied his teammates throughout the tournament, beat France in the first phase and Spain in the second. After beating the two finalists of the last Eurobasket, this Wednesday they were on the verge of eliminating the bronze medalist from last summer’s event. Joyful basketball, with lots of ball movement and great shooters from Latvia took advantage and Germany had to react and reached halftime with a lead (36-34) despite Schröder’s zero points and two defeats. The battle strengthened until the end, with 24 points and eight assists from leader Zagars, against 16 points and eight rebounds from Franz Wagner on the German side. Schröder finished with nine points and four assists. Germany returns to an international semi-final after that reached in 2022 in Berlin during the Eurobasket, during its defeat against Spain. He will now face the powerful United States.

The climax came with the duel between Canada and Slovenia. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Luka Doncic on the podium. Jordi Fernández’s team, very compact, won with another superb performance from Shai, author of 31 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, a new step towards the attempt to individually win the title of MVP of the World Cup . On the opponent, Doncic increased his performance to 26 points, four rebounds and five assists, but he once again failed in the fight for medals and found himself tied up by Brooks’ defense and expelled in the last quarter for two techniques.

The elimination of Slovenia sends it to the pre-Olympics, which Spain will also compete in, and directly ranks Germany and Serbia among the two best European teams in the World Cup. Thus, the pre-Olympic tournament, from July 2 to 7 next year, will be contested by these 24 teams: Spain, Lithuania, Italy, Latvia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Greece, Georgia, Egypt. , Finland, New Zealand, Lebanon, Philippines, Mexico, Angola, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Bahamas, Bahrain, Poland and Croatia. The 24 teams will be divided into four groups of six, which will lead to four finals, the winners of which will be in Paris.

The appointment to attend the Games will take place between the end of the ACB (June 17 at the latest) and the start of the Olympic event (July 26). “It will be a titanic feat to qualify for Paris,” warned Spanish coach Sergio Scariolo, anticipating the difficulty of emerging victorious from the labyrinth and the doubts about the players he will have. “When it arrives, we will count those who are there and those who are not, and we will go back to war to win it or emerge with our heads held high,” he commented.

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