Candidate for the title, the France team was eliminated on Sunday in the first round of the Basketball World Cup by Latvia (88-86) in Jakarta.
Published on: 08/27/2023 – 18:23
2 mn
Already the end for the Blues. The French basketball team experienced one of the biggest disappointments in its history one year before the Olympic Games (OG) in Paris, eliminated from the Basketball World Cup in the first round after its defeat on Sunday August 27 against Latvia in Jakarta (88-86) as they aimed for the title.
The Blues, crushed at the opening by the Canadians (95-65), can no longer join in one of the first two places in Group H Canada and the Latvians (two victories each).
However, they led by 12 points at the start of the last quarter (74-62) but saw the Latvians go ahead for the first time in the match 37 seconds from the end (87-86) before Sylvain Francisco missed. , three-point, siren victory shot.
“It’s a big disappointment”
The leader was on the ground because France, which is on the three current international podiums (3rd of the World Cup-2019, finalist of the Olympic Games-2021 and Euro-2022), was deprived of the holder of the post Nando De Colo.
The Asvel player, one of the Blues executives at the World Cup with almost all their vital forces, joined the locker room five minutes from the end after a second unsportsmanlike foul, synonymous with disqualification. He had to leave his partners for a gesture of humor when he benefited from a foul.
“When hot, it’s a big disappointment. We broke down mentally, we broke down physically, we weren’t together,” said Nicolas Batum at the microphone of BeIN Sports at the end of the meeting, visibly very moved for his last World Cup.
Vincent Collet’s men also lost far too many balls – 20 – against a private selection of his star Kristaps Porzingis, who was playing in the first World Cup in its history.
Under the cheers of her large colony of supporters, she qualified for a second round that the Blues will not see.
“Our team is beautiful and being beautiful is good, but going on the field and getting your hands dirty is better,” explained pivot Rudy Gobert, disappointing during this World Cup.
With AFP
