Leaded by 12 points three minutes from the term, the Belgians returned from nowhere to snatch the title.
At the end of the suspense, miracle, Belgium confirmed its domination on the European scene by winning its second title of European consecutive basketball champion on Sunday against Spain (67-65). The “Belgian Cats”, favorite in their own succession, confirmed their status at the end of a crazy meeting where they took the lead in the last seconds.
Still carried out from a point at the entrance to the last ten seconds, they were saved by Antonia Delaere, who intercepted the ball to register the winner of the win. The 30-year-old rear is not her try, since she had already been decisive in the semi-finals, marking a award-winning shot which had then made it possible to eliminate Italy.
Massage for the Roja
A miracle for the Belgians, a blow for the Spanish, who still had 10 units in advance within three minutes of the term. Led by a new generation in Greece, with six players who had never played competition with the senior team, La Roja served as Outsider. She finally let out her first title very little since 2019, and her revenge in this final identical to that of two years ago.
«We showed a lot of things during this competition, when we built this team in a few weeks», Hummed the very experienced Alba Torrens,« Cand medal has a lot of value». The contrary, this is a triumph for Belgium, taken since January by the American Mike Thibault, several times titled across the Atlantic, and which led the selection to a second trophy in its history.
«This team is unique. It is a small country, which does not have the talent reservoir that there can be in the United States, even in Spain or in France, he explained, but there is a spirit of camaraderie that it is difficult to reproduce everywhere». In this euro, he was able to count in particular on an entire workforce, including the star Emma Meesseman, who was still rewarded for the distinction of MVP of the competition. “”I played a lot of matches in my careeradmitted the 32 -year -old player, But I am not sure I had such a meeting before. It’s a good reminder of never giving up».
The podium was completed Sunday by Italy, falling earlier in France (69-54). The Italians have won their first medal since 1995 after dominating the Olympic vice-champions.
