Conductor on the sidelines: Serbia coach Svetislav Pešić Image: dpa
Svetislav Pešić led Germany to their only international title to date 30 years ago. Now he and Serbia are Germany’s opponents in the World Cup final. National coach Gordon Herbert raves about Pešić.
Suddenly a smile took over Svetislav Pešić’s previously almost sullen face. The 74-year-old sat on a podium in the catacombs of the World Cup arena in Manila. The coach of the Serbian national basketball team had a few dozen journalists in front of him. One of them asked what a final against the German selection would mean to him when Serbia’s entry into the final – unlike the German one – was already certain. Pešić leaned back, his eyes suddenly wide awake. “Oh, that would be very interesting,” he said. And shortly afterwards: “I would be happy to play against Germany.”
Shortly afterwards, the German team actually moved into the first World Cup final in their history with a victory over the USA on the arena in Manila. The person Pešić now makes the already historic final this Sunday (2:40 p.m. CEST on ZDF and Magenta Sport) even more extraordinary. After all, the German national team now has to defeat the man who led them to what is still their only international title exactly 30 years ago at the 1993 European Championships.
