“Spain is a little bit our best enemy, we will have to fight,” said French coach Valerie Garnier, after the draw resulted in a duel between the two countries in the quarterfinals of the Olympic women’s basketball tournament on Wednesday (12h00 GMT).
France and Spain will meet again in a duel that presents a favorable balance in official competitions for the second (eight victories and three defeats).
“Against the Spanish we have it easier in the preparation, but it is not real … It is a team that always responds in tournaments, that always does better,” added the coach in a virtual press conference.
Both teams met four times in friendlies, in May and July, to prepare for the European first and then the Games. France won three of these matches.
– ‘A very physical rival’ –
“But in these games they were missing Laura Gil and Astou Ndour, who are dominant on the inside, and Alba Torrens, their best player,” Garnier recalled.
The Spanish coach Lucas Mondelo recalled on Tuesday that France had endured 35 minutes against the United States, in the last game of the group stage, in which they needed to at least not lose by a large difference to advance to the quarterfinals.
“We have to be very strong mentally to hold out against a very physical opponent. But it seems that he has a problem of blocking himself a bit before such an important and definitive appointment, without going back, that is what has happened to him so far,” the coach recalled about a team that lost the Eurobasket final to Serbia.
After a disappointing European as host, in which they lost in the quarterfinals to Serbia, Spain has recovered its best version in the Games, with three victories in the first phase and several players in great form.
To the regularity in Ndour’s painting is added the quality of Alba Torrens and the excellent moment of Cristina Ouviña, capable of contributing points, rebounds and assists in each appearance.
“We are in a quarter of the Olympic Games, you cannot ask for more. We have done the work we wanted so far, but France has gone from less to more,” said Spanish point guard Silvia Domínguez.
The winner of Spain-France will face the winner of Belgium-Japan in the semifinals.
On the other side of the picture, the United States, which seems unbeatable en route to its seventh consecutive gold, meet Australia, while China plays Serbia.
– Quarter program of the women’s tournament, on Wednesday (in GMT hours):
(01h00) China – Serbia
(04h40) Australia v United States
(08h20) Japan v Belgium
(12h00) Spain – France
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