“Football is a game of 11 against 11, where everyone plays and the Germans win.” This phrase from Gary Lineker at one time went around the world, becoming to some extent a slogan, but in recent years the situation in team sports has been completely different.
After the defeat of the German football team to the Japanese, and even with a crushing score of 1:4, the question could not help but arise: how prepared is the Bundesteam for the European Championship at home? And the reaction was immediate: Hans-Dieter Flick was fired.
The German public would have been arguing for a long time about the defeat of the football team if something had not happened on Sunday in the Philippines that could seriously and permanently change the balance of power in world basketball. The German team, which shortly before did not allow the Americans to reach the final of the world championship, tried on the gold medals of the World Championship for the first time in its history.
In the final, the Serbian team was defeated, which since the time of the united Yugoslavia has been one of the strongest basketball powers in the world. It is not difficult to list the Serbs known to anyone who has seen or held an orange ball. As for the representatives of Germany, the search will pose a number of difficulties.
Yes, Germany gave the basketball world Dirk Nowitzki. And in Texas he is still remembered with gratitude. It was he who led the not-so-good Dallas to the NBA title.
fake images
But talking about German basketball in the context of Dirk Nowitzki’s successes is the same as identifying the German hockey team with Uwe Krupp, who even reached the NHL All-Star Game in the early 1990s.
Krupp is undoubtedly a figure of German hockey, but by the time the German team won silver at the Korean Olympics and reached the final of this year’s World Championship, Uwe had long since ended his career. The same axiom works well in basketball.
Who now remembers which team became the first European champion after the collapse of the USSR? At the same time, it was the German team, although at home, that tried to win the 1993 EuroBasket gold, stopping the Russian team in the decisive match. So this did not cause surprise only because the national team of our country miraculously reached this tournament. But since then, the Germans have been stubbornly coming out on top. And Nowitzki’s appearance on the horizon of world basketball was only half of a long journey.
A year ago, the German team won another medal at the European Championship. And even then it was worth paying attention to. But experts and fans usually hailed the Bundestim. And the team led by Canadian specialist Gordon Herbert not only did not rest on its laurels, but also became world champion. Germany’s offensive leader, Dennis Schröder, was named the tournament’s most valuable player. And it is very possible that in less than a year in Paris he will become the new Dirk of the German team.
fake images
The list of favorites for the 2024 Olympic tournament has, in many ways, unexpectedly added one more element. And the undisputed favorites of any starting basketball team, the Americans, clearly need to think about how not to step on the same rake again.
