France, who lost to Japan in their debut, will have a revenge with the flavor of securing a medal on Friday (11h00 GMT) in the semi-finals of the women’s Olympic basketball tournament, in which the big favorite United States meets Serbia (04h40 GMT ).
After defeating their ‘best enemy’ Spain in an agonizing match in the quarterfinals (67-64), France leaves as favorites to reach the grand final on Sunday, the day the Tokyo Games close.
At its premiere in the Japanese capital, the French team was surprised (74-70) by a host who was more ambitious and motivated. Now he is found again on the way to his second Olympic final, after the disputed and lost to the USA nine years ago in London.
Japan, whose best international performance was the 1975 World Cup final against the USSR, had never been in an Olympic semi-final in its four appearances.
The host team, far from the usual rules, comes from winning an agonizing quarter-final match against Belgium (86-85).
“We suffered from their passing and ‘extra-passing’ game, with great quality from the triple. They achieved 14 against Belgium (7 from Yuki Miyazama). It is a team that plays fast, really well, it deserves its place,” stressed the French coach Valerie Garnier.
“We know the mistakes we made (in the first game). We will have to adapt to avoid making them again,” he added.
Before the United States, undefeated in official competition since September 2006 and playing for their seventh consecutive gold, they meet Serbia, who will fight for the medals after becoming European champion a month and a half ago.
– Semifinals program, on Friday (in GMT hours):
(04h40) United States v Serbia
(11h00) Japan – France
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