Prague will grow with human towers. EuroBasket is a big holiday, it starts already on Friday
The tailor is already in. Benjamínek invites to the home EuroBasket, his first big event
Twenty-four teams will participate in the European Championship. In addition to the Czech capital, Cologne in Germany, Milan in Italy and Tbilisi in Georgia also received the trust to organize groups. In each “group” there will be six teams, from which the best four will advance to the final tournament in Berlin. The playoff system will be played in the German capital. The title of the old continent is defended by the Slovenians, silver by the Serbians and bronze by the Spanish.
The beginning of the long golden years
The Czech Republic drew Poland (September 2), Serbia (September 3), the Netherlands (September 5), Finland (September 6) and Israel (September 8). While the biggest draw for Czech fans will be Saturday’s already sold-out match against Serbia, led by NBA star Nikola Jokic, the final performance will be of most interest to national team coach Ronen Ginzburg. Although he has a Czech passport, he still does not deny his affiliation and relationship to the Israeli homeland.
The Czech Republic, formerly the Czechoslovakia, waited for the allocation of the organization of the European Championship for a long 41 years. Two basketball generations lost the special feeling of playing in front of their own fans. Perhaps also because Czech basketball fell into oblivion for some ten years. He even dropped out of the elite group for a while. A surprising seventh place at Europe 2015 promised a turn for the better. After an exceptional crash two years later, the golden years of long sports began to be written. Advancing to the World Cup in China was a huge success. However, what the Lions performed away from home took everyone’s breath away from basketball experts and fans around the world. Sixth place, better than the stellar United States. Everyone had to allocate another Euro to such a country. The Czechs got their FIBA revenge in the best possible way. They sensationally dominated the Olympic qualification and advanced to the biggest sporting event in Tokyo.
Auda is already In. He cleaned up the Brno hantec and invites to the home EuroBasket
“We are very much looking forward to the tournament. When we learned that we would be hosting EuroBasket in Prague, we were extremely excited. And I hope that we will ride on the wave of success that we have had since the World Cup and the Olympics. But we found ourselves in a new situation, together with Serbia we will be group favorites,” notes Czech leader Tomáš Satoranský, who, however, has completely different concerns before the start of the championship. Exactly a fortnight before the start of the basketball peak, he was injured at a preparatory tournament in Germany. His right ankle put him out of action. But it makes it possible and impossible for the Euro not to fail.
“For me, EuroBasket is special because I’m from Prague, and I haven’t played many matches here with the national team yet. Of course, with that comes a lot of pressure and interest from people, adds the player, who is known to the whole nation under the nickname Sata. How indispensable he is for the national team, the two qualifying duels revealed, for a change, the World Cup. The loss in France could still be excused, but the home fiasco with Hungary was not. The form of the Lions is therefore a question mark before the European championship. Will the opening performance with Poland dispel all fears?
Key sword. We have the quality, but in our opinion the absence, says assistant Bartoň
Interestingly, the European Championship was held in Prague twice during Czechoslovakia. And the organizing team always captured some valuable metal. In 1947, silver and in 1981, bronze. I offer to finish the collection. But apart from Serbia, other aspirants for gold have sprung up. Like Spain, Greece and especially the trefoil from the group of death France, Slovenia, Germany. And one more connection can be a guide to success… The last medals were won by the Czechoslovaks at the silver European Championship 1985, which was hosted by Germany.